


Death Wish

by RozyHtaylor



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Minor Character Death, Original Character(s), Parent-Child Relationship, Unplanned Pregnancy, alternative universe, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:54:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 84,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25864684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RozyHtaylor/pseuds/RozyHtaylor
Summary: "Mom why do we never hear about your family?"Daisy knew what she was doing when she walked away 5 years previous, she knew she had a debt to pay to Lincoln, to her old team.No more good guys needed to die at her hands.When a bomb goes off and she is left fighting for her life the real question comes to light... who will look after her daughterSet 5 years after Lincoln death.Doesn't really have Robbie Reyes in it. Focuses on Daisy and her relationship with the people that she once considered family.
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Lincoln Campbell & Skye | Daisy Johnson (mentioned), Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Robbie Reyes/Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 33
Kudos: 163





	1. Chapter 1

"Mom why do we never hear about your family?" The girl's question was innocent enough. She knew all about Gabe and Robbie's family, well as much as a 4 year old could understand but Daisy always kept quiet, never sure what to say when asked. She did have a family, she used to have a family.

"You are my family," She placed her hand on her daughters and gave it a gentle squeeze. The little girl went back to her dinner with no further questions. The ex SHIELD agent couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief. Looking around she couldn't quite believe where she had got too, how far she had come.

"But what about the people in your box, your Mom and Dad in the box. I want to see it again," The little girl spoke again after several minutes of silence, pointed up for a moment to the shelf gathering dust above the fridge. Up there lay an old box, it contained all the things the ex-agent needed to remind herself why she was where she was, a photo of her old SHIELD team. An unknown scientist had taken it off the group after they had watched an 0-8-4 go up in a rocket ship. She didn't have very many photos of the whole group. There was a photo of her Coulson and May the day she got her SHIELD badge. Fitz had taken it after they had one too many bottles of awful English beer. Daisy looked up for a moment and smiled sadly. She was pretty sure her SHIELD badge was in there too gathering dust.

"When you're older," Daisy said, picking up her daughter's dinner plate and exiting the conversation.   
  
When she first walked away, the woman changed her hair more often than she showered. Living in more cheap wigs than she would ever admit too. She could spend the morning as a brunette only switching to a blonde bob and awful sunglasses in order to pick up food or get petrol. Her clothes underwent a similar transformation, easily achieved with the use of layers: jeans under a long skirt, a smart shirt under a casual hoody. Even resorting to beanies. A look Daisy hadn't used since she was a teenager. The more edgy look had stuck around, it was a constant reminder that she was no longer the innocent hacker girl that lived in a van.

The inhuman always thought her team would find her. For weeks every time the doorbell rang or she saw someone dressed in black she prepared herself. But the years past and no one ever came knocking. Then when Quake started hiding her face and being more careful about her attacks her life slowly slipped back to normal. It wasn't the kind of normal she imagined but it was something. Some form of routine, she did the odd bit for the rising tide and kept her fitness up. Making ends meets with odd side jobs for people that didn’t ask too many questions.   
  
Her daughter wasn’t planned, sticking around with Robbie wasn’t even part of the plan. She just needed comforting after a long night and he was the only other person that knew what she got up to. He became the only person she trusted. He knew all about Lincoln, it was the only part of her part life she was completely honest about. Even as the years went by she could never fully open up about everything that had happened at SHIELD and Robbie never asked. Daisy gave him the same courtesy. They both had their own demons, some of them just over lapped.

"You be good for uncle Gabe tonight?" Robbie said, putting on his jacket. Causing his daughter to look up from her coloring book to her parents.

"I’m always good" The young girl smirked before sticking her tongue out.

"And you say she's nothing like you," her boyfriend whispered in her ear as she grabbed the keys from the table.

"Thanks again Gabe," Daisy put her hand briefly on his shoulder and smiled softly.

"And remember..."

"She's in bed by 7.30. No chocolate no matter how much she asks and to deadlock the back door before I go to bed," The younger brother replied before smiling sarcastically "I've been doing this for 4 years. I didn’t magically forget when I went to college. I know how it works,"

The adults smiled at each other. Gabe knew what they were about to do, knew enough not to ask any further questions that's for sure. He didn't want to know, not really. He wanted his family safe at home. He wanted his brother to be the kind of guy that invited him over for game night or to the bar after a long day but he had known for years that his older brother, his only living family, had other less legal hobbies.

The couple got in the car almost silently before turning on the radio and pulling out of the driveway. They didn't get a rush anymore, there was no longer a thrill or a fear they just did it because that's what they felt needed to be done. Their worst addiction. Keeping the watchdogs at bay had taken up so much of their lives Daisy couldn't imagine her relationship without the evening outings. She couldn't imagine her life without the evening outings. The watchdogs were the only group Quake cared about, Robbie had his own side projects that she would sometimes assist with, they only went after bad guys even the police had figured that out. Enough that the police didn't hunt them down too hard anymore. There was the odd police chase in the early days when Quake would take down an entire building but they had perfected it now. Mastered the art of knowing where to strike and when, knowing the watchdogs code better than some of the lower ranking members themselves. Daisy knew that SHIELD was still hunting them, the pair had pulled up to sites to see a SHIELD van already at the scene, she would occasionally see them lurking in the same backstreet web channels as she did. She couldn't deal with them, she couldn't look her old family in the eye, not without taking herself back to what she had done; to how many good people died because of her. To all the pain she caused Fitzsimmons and the closest things to parents she ever had. She couldn't pretend she didn't miss them but as the years had passed the aching in her heart wasn’t the same. She didn't check the SHIELD channels as often as she used too. She didn't keep an eye on Fitzsimmons back accounts anymore just in case they were buying a house or having a baby. And, she now avoided googling Phil Coulson. When SHIELD went public again Phillip J Coulson was now a household name, much to the shock of several out of the loop avengers.

The first few months, she noticed they were looking for her. She could see the SHIELDs servers on the hunt with her photograph. There was a police appeal for Quake to be brought to justice for a long list of crimes but over time and with one too many evenings spent hiding god knows where it slowly started to fade away. Quake still appeared in the evening news especially when her and 'the ghost rider' took out buildings or a larger number of operatives but smaller places, where no buildings were damaged, just people, barely made local papers. Violence has become a way in the world, that's what she would remind herself. Shootings of any kind were all too common in America with fist fights leading to death being at an all time high. As they sat in the car following the Intel she had picked up while waiting in the parking lot for her daughter to finish school, she felt almost numb. Neither of them felt like bad guys, but Daisy Johnson didn't feel much like a good guy either. Every night when she stepped out of the car, she would hope that this would be the night she would have taken out enough truly bad guys for the innocent deaths she caused to become the thing that no longer gave her nightmares.

"There near by" Robbie said looking down at his arms, like he could sense them.

Daisy simply nodded before fixing the strapping on her hands, placing a black bandanna on to cover a large amount of her face and getting out of the car. Something hit her gut instincts as they entered the building. Her boyfriend no longer looked like the man in the family pictures but was the face of the devil. He had a chain in one hand and was ready to go.    
Both of them were just trying to pay for the mistakes they had made. 

They had cleared the first floor and were heading up the stairs before she heard it. She had never seen a hand grenade like the one that landed in front of her but before she could even think the whole room went dark.   
“Robbie,” She yelled into the darkness.

\----

"In breaking news at 10," the TV played as background noise for the Fitzsimmons household. After everything the couple had been through, silence couldn’t help put them on edge.

"The controversial vigilante known as Quake appears to have died in a recent blast. As a body matching the description was pulled from the rubble," Fitz looked up from the book on interdimensional gravity and stared at his wife who already had her eyes pinned on the TV screen in front of them.

Neither of them said anything; they just watched the screen.

"Over to Martha for more information directly from the incident,"    
The screen went blank for a moment because a slightly too happy woman appeared again, mic in one hand umbrella firmly grasped in the other.

"Here lies what is left of the abandoned Kinglane apartment block. According to confirmed sources this building was being watched by several government and military agencies and was a suspected arms location for the rebel terrorist group known as the watchdogs. Reports have the main blast going off at 9.35 this evening. So far no survivors have been found but a vehicle linked to known watchdog hunters Quake and Ghostrider was located near the back of the building. A woman matching the description of Quake was pulled from the rubble, it is believed she was taken to a nearby military hospital but pronounced dead on route. Official police reports have yet to be filed," Before either of them could focus on whatever was being said next the phone went. Their SHIELD phone.

"May," Simmons said, grabbing her shoes from next to the coach as she spoke. "Yes we saw, do we know?" Simmons threw a jacket at Fitz as she listened to what was being said on the other end of the phone.

"Okay we are on our way," Simmons looked at her husband who was staring at the TV in some form of shock before speaking calmly.

"Let's go!"

Fitz didn't say anything, his mind still processing the events he had seen on screen. 

"I cant believe she is stupid enough to get herself blown up," he remarked quietly in the car as they were driving to the airfield where May had dropped them off just a few days previous.

"I think she might opt for being dead rather than waking up in god knows where with Coulson and May standing over you. That and a list of felony charges longer than your arm," The scientist spoke fast like she often did when the logic side of her brain would take over.

"Very true," he replied nodding his head before looking out the window at the concrete jungle they were driving through. They both knew what they were doing. Being hyper rational helped the pair. Kept them calm and kept agent Jemma Simmons focused on the road in front of her.   
  


They couldn’t help but turn off the radio and resorting to an awful playlist after there was already a debate on whether Quake and the Ghost Rider were truly good or bad people. The scientists knew Daisy Johnson. Agent of SHIELD Daisy Johnson but they didn't know Quake, not anymore. Jemma had managed to keep a subtle but close eye on her friend for almost 6 months after she left but then the trail went cold. Nothing, no facial recognition software was finding her, it was like the women didn't exist until nightfall where she would take out an entire building of watchdogs with her fire headed friend. The news wouldn't pick up on it for months. SHIELD would be getting close to the head of the watchdogs only to find them quaked to pieces and burnt to a crisp when they finally conducted a raid. Simmons had tried reaching out to Daisy using various channels and even reached out to SHIELD rising tide sources when Fitzsimmons were trying to get a wedding invite to their best-friend.

Daisy had received the invite, got a backend script one night but looking down at the scars on her arms reminded her of why she needed to stay away. Because she was a monster to them. She put them through hell and staying away was the least she could do.

\-----

"The Watchdogs appear to be back in LA.You heard about the watchdog base in the abandoned flats there," May remarked as she stared at the large screen in the plane.

"Melinda, there is a whole team working on the watchdogs," Coulson replied, planting a kiss on her forehead the way he needed to do when she was worried about something.

"You're the director!” She couldn’t help but sigh “Can't we go in and just check it out. Yo-yo has been dying for a recon mission ever since she returned,'' Melinda May spoke softly.

"You need to stop keeping yourself up at night looking for her," he knew instantly what it was about. He knew what his partner spent her night doing, tracking Quake. But to Melinda May it wasn't a witch hunt for the criminal; it was a never ending search for the closest thing to a daughter she had ever had. It was integral gathering and research to find her girl.

"She knows how to contact us, I literally have an office with my name on."

"Won't stop me worrying," she muttered before looking down at the reports in front of her before letting the director walk out. She let out a sign and went back to gathering Intel.

She heard the clock strike 10 and was about to call it a night when her screen started flashing.

There had been an explosion, her heart sank, she didn't need to hear the rest. There was no large richter scale reporting on any of the systems Fitzsimmons had set up; it wasn't a quake thing. This was a bomb. Quake did many things but blowing up buildings with a grenade was not one of them. Her heart sank and she tuned into the police reports.

"We have 43 confirmed dead. Managed to pull what appears to be Quake out of the rubble. Haven't found the devil yet but if he gets left in the ground might not be such a bad thing," the Military officer was almost chuckling through the radio. The senior agent clenched her fists but listened.

"Was the girl dead or alive?"

"Unknown, I think the scientists would prefer her dead mind," the man continued

"I am getting a promotion for this one fellers. 43 watchdogs and the vigulaty duo. Might as well write my name on the captain door now,"

She slammed her hands onto the table before shouting for the director.  
"I know, we are wheels up in 5," he walked into the communication room where the women he loved was stood, her face getting paler by the second. His voice wasn't calm but she couldn't place it. She hadn't heard Phil Coulson actually scared in a long time.

May nodded silently as she put the plane into the air before phoning fitzsimmons. Her brain had gone into agent mode whether she liked it or not.

"Simmons," she said slowly once the line had connected.

"Daisy Johnson. Quake." The women spoke almost too carmly. Using Daisy’s full name as if Simmons needed a reminder.

"She isn't dead yet but god knows what branch of the government are very excited to have got her. We are flying out now. Be at your airspace in 30 minutes. The hospital in an hour. We don't know anything about the ghost rider,"

The agent paused as she listened to the younger womens frantic voice on the phone. Melinda couldn't think of any spare calming words that would help, she was using everything in her power not to lose control.

  
  


\-----

The quinjet picked Fitzsimmons up from the usual location. They had only been back from the academy 2 days and between them were starting to get bored already. They sat in silence listening to the radios scanning every channel for any more information.

"Have you heard from anyone else?" The director asked, causing Simmons to look away from the TV that she was aimlessly staring at.

"Fitz is on the phone to Mack as we speak. Hunter and Bobbi are deep undercover as you know so reaching them is something you will have to do," Jemma spoke slowly with a shake in her voice. She was trying not to let herself process. She had spent so long trying to be angry at her best friend for leaving them, for walking away when things got tough. Fitz had been actually angry for well over a year refusing to watch anything that would show Quake. Still unsure how to process the hole she left in all their lives.

"I have no doubt as soon as they hear about this they will resurface," Coulson said calmly before sitting next to Jemma. Sometimes he couldn't believe what a strong independent woman Agent Simmons had turned out to be. Being stranded on a desert planet had a lot to do with it but even so the kid that walked onto the bus years ago wasn't even recognisable in comparison.

"It will be okay," a voice spoke out, it was May.

"We don't know that, do we? The best case is that she wakes up and runs; the worst case she dies as then what? The police take the credit for killing her. For getting another inhuman vigulaty off the streets," Jemma had tears in her eyes now as for the first time she let herself think about all the possible ways this could play out. None of them involved getting Daisy Johnson back safely.

"We are landing in 5," May said, choosing not to engage in the conversation with Jemma before walking back into the cockpit. She shut her eyes briefly to prevent tears from falling and then she initiated the landing process.

Phil had already taken lead on this ‘quake incident’ as it was now being referred to too. Telling all SHIELD teams in the area to stay back and out of the way. They didn't need another SHIELD vs the police incident. While SHIELD always won it didn't do a lot for inter agency bonding. 

\--

"She has been taken to a secure military hospital," Phil said as they got off the plane.

"Any update?"

"We don't know anything" Melanda May slammed her hands on the steering wheel. "Literally nothing, can't tell from the intel whether she's dead or alive or even if it was Daisy. We could be walking into a trap and none of use even thought twice," she was angry now. Fitz made a mental note on how agent Melinda May dealt with grief. Anything to keep him distracted.

"Look we are here.They are expecting SHIELD and they didn't kick up too much of a fuss. Just had to pull in several well banked favours," Phil felt his voice trail off. "We just need to go in and confirm the identity as ex-SHIELD agent Daisy Johnson," He regained his composure and flashed his badge to gain entrance.

"If she's alive. We will take her to SHIELD." Simmons said briefly remembering how much power she now had within the organisation.

"And if she's dead?" Fitz snapped suddenly.

"Then we just helped some stuck up officer get a promotion," May replied with gritted teeth before slamming the car door.

The empty slightly too dark hallways always put the scientists on edge. Nothing good can ever come from lack of recon. One of the many things being surrounded by field agents had taught them.

"Director," A man in full military uniform shook out his hand as they stood outside the medical bay.

"General," Coulson said, looking the well dressed man up and down.

"I don't know why she needed IDing. I know quake when I see her," the man continued as he scanned his pass.

"So she's alive?" Agent May asked before anyone else could process.

"She's breathing...for now," The man replied before walking the group down a more modern looking hallway. The walls were painted white rather than the haunted house looking brick tone on the rest of the building. 

"She's through there," the man said, standing by a bolted door.

"You going to unlock it then or what?" May was now getting inpatient.

The man took a gulp instantly deciding he doesn't get paid enough to be woken up and called into a medical base just to have a legal debate with SHIELD. A debate SHIELD always seemed to win.

He unlocked the door. And held it open for the 4 to walk in.

They all stopped around the women. She was in some form of status pod. Similar to a SHIELD hospital. None of them moved any closer. Just stared at her. Simmons noticed the meter on the side was showing; she was still breathing but it was slowly with her heart rate being very near dangerous. The woman hadn’t even been changed from her ripped blood dripped clothes, Even through the glass the doctor could see the bruising on the inhumans hands.

"Daisy," The director muttered after what felt like a lifetime of silence.

"From looking at her she needs proper medical care and surgery." Simmons kept talking using doctor mode to hold it together. Fitz grabbed her shaking hands and let her continue. "I don't even want to know how much blood as had lost and the stuff they have her hooked up to won't touch the sides,"

May nodded before turning to the man she loved ,"call whoever you need to call Phil. we are not leaving her without her. Dead or alive."

Phil couldn't help but look at her lifeless limb body and think back to all the times Daisy had put herself in danger; all the times she had nearly died but none of them hurt him the same way this did because this time there was a very good chance she was going to die alone. The director of SHIELD had decided a long time ago that no good guy deserves to die alone.

He was out of the room for what felt like a lifetime. Simmons just stared at the body infront of her, none of them saying anything at all. They hadn’t seen her in nearly 5 years other than the clips on the news.   
“Not the reunion I had in mind,” She said slowly looking at her husband, her words were barely a whisper but in the crisp silence it echoed.    
Hearing the door open again, none of them turned to look. They just watch the body of the person they all care about lay still in front of them. Simmons wanted to start looking at the women's injuries now, her eyes couldn’t help but wonder the room looking to see if there was anything to put pressure on the wounds. The room looked empty. 

"Providing the police and military task force take full responsibility and we send them our findings on Quake, the body is ours. If she wakes up they are to be contacted immediately. It's not like they could put her in a normal prison cell but I am sure there is already a dark hole prepared for her,” He let out a small sigh as he broke the silence of the room before continuing. “Nothing yet on the ghost rider," 

* * *

Simmons let herself cry when they were heading back to base, a simple soft cry before she got to work trying to save someone who had saved her life countless times before.

As Simmons cut Daisy out of her shirt the scars from years ago were all she could see. There was blood and shrapnel from today, her body various shades of black, brown and purple, blood was slowly oozing out of numerous wounds on her arm; not a dangerous amount, just a small but relentless flow of crimson reminding them all of how precious life is. Even with all the marks it was the straight lines that stood out to the young shield agent. Jemma remembered them when they were raw and new. She remembered picking Daisy up from the floor or her bunk and holding her; they looked faded now. The doctor made notes of the other injuries that scattered the body, while trying not to panic about the amount of blood soaking through the black outfit the ex-agent was wearing.   
  


It appeared Quake had been shot more than once since the last time Simmons had laid eyes on her, and from the looks of the scaring not been fixed up by a professional. The intense damage to Daisy's body took May by surprise when she walked in. The senior agent knew it wasn't going to be pretty but to see a woman she once considered a daughter battered and bruised still took her breath away. There was a blood covered shrapnel on the side of the lab that Jemma had removed from the abdomen and hooked the inhuman up to various fluids and blood, Jemma was still waiting on scan results to check for any further internal damage, she hadn’t yet removed the oxygen mask that was placed on her old friend by the military doctors. Inhuman research had come a long way since they had last treated Daisy and Simmons was sure that this was going to save her friend. It had to. That's what she kept repeating to herself, it had to work. Fitz found it hard to watch his wife work, letting her mutter to herself in order to keep herself calm. Over the years he had gotten used to the chaos that field work had brought to their lab but watching the women he cared about cry as she was patching up her friend, never failed to break his heart just a little bit. The inhuman had survived worse, the scars scattered on the lifeless body in front of them told them all that, but it still didn’t remove the panic as they worked. Her heart rate would spike and drop inconsistently as Simmons applied pressure to wounds, the body would shake for a few short seconds without any rhyme or reason, as if it was trying to quake the doctor away but just didn’t have the strength.    


"Daisy Daisy Daisy, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" May muttered quietly, her voice barely audible, shaking her head quickly as if to wipe away tears while looking between the dying girl on the med bay table and the pieces of blood ridden clothes nearby. May wanted all the answers, but she didn’t want to hear them from an autopsy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Daisy's past comes to life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the mistakes are my own
> 
> I feel like something isn't right with the formatting but I can't figure it out

"May,” The scientist spoke quietly as she was doing another check of Daisys now clean body, “what does that look like to you?" Simmons asked softly, trying not to break the women out of her trance.

Simmons had cleaned up the blood from the ex-agent and had finished the final lot of stitches and tape when she noticed it. She hadn't paid attention to it at first, almost assuming it was a scar from one of Daisy's darker nights but it was different to the others. It looked like it had been properly stitched and looked after. It was paler then the other marks surrounding it and the positioning it struck a chord with the women.

Melinda stood up and took her eyes off Daisy for the first time in hours before looking back at Simmons.

"What are you thinking?" May asked sharply, trying to hide the shake in her voice.

"I'm thinking that that scar looks more like a csection then a battle wound,"

"What are you saying Simmons?" May repeated the question now standing. 

Simmons wiped a tear from her eye using her arm before taking her gloves off.

"I think that Daisy has had a child." Simmons observed slowly looking briefly over at Fitz and Coulson who were trying not to hover outside the med-bay door. “Or at least gave birth,” There was an uncertainty to her voice, a badly hidden shaking, “I will cross reference it with the old information we have on her but I am pretty sure this is post shield.” 

"So what you're saying is that, we don't even know where Daisy lives, what name she might go by and now there might be a child involved," May spoke harshly at first. A few years ago Simmons would have been hurt or upset by the tone but she recognised it now as one of her friends coping mechanisms.

"Any ideas where she was staying? Now would be the time to tell us?" May asked looking at the woman she now considered a friend.

"You know I have been looking for her just as long as you. If I knew where she was don't you think I would have dragged her to my wedding, or house warming or even bloody coffee!"

Silence crept over them before Melinda spoke again.   
  


"Sorry, it's just-," May finally spoke again, this time in a friendly calmer town, much to everyone relief. She didn’t want to accuse Jemma of lying, the senior agent just wanted answers.

"I know," Simmons said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder before pulling the older agent in for a hug. The hug didn't help either of them but just for a brief moment it meant they didn't have to look at the pain across each other's faces. They could hide the tears just for a moment. 

Simmons pulled back swiftly as an idea came to her.

She lifted the newly placed blanket off her friend and lowered the bra strap much to Mays horror.

"What are you doing?" May asked before Simmons pulled out a small key from the bed of the ex agent's bra.

"She always told me it was a good storage place," Simmons remarked with a fake smile.

May matched the fake smile with a less convincing one of her own.

Before the quinjet had landed Daisy was patched up and placed back into a medical pod. Both the scientists had stopped their immediate panic but they knew it was going to be a long road to recovery.   


Fitz was looking at the shrapnel pulled out from Daisy trying to work out if it could be any form of clue. It looked ordinary but that wasn’t going to stop him, he had overheard what was a stake.    
  


"Mack and Yo-Yo are going to meet us at HQ. There is a secure medical room round the back we need to go in entrance delta bravo 7" Coulson opened the door and spoke. His eyes red from crying. Not you could tell from his voice. The man was a master at pulling it together. “You cover the pod when you move her, we don’t need any more attention on this right now. The last thing we need is more base gossip,” 

"We need to track down the possible location of this key," Simmons said taking a gulp before giving it to Fitz. "We need to find something, anything on it now," she ordered swiftly before turning back to Daisy.

"We think Daisy might have had a kid, a kid that is now alone while we have her unconscious mother in handcuffs on our med table," Agent May informed the 2 men standing across from her, not letting her eyes look up from the girl on the table.

\-----

It had been 12 hours since they had pulled Daisy from the government medical centre. She wasn't dead but not improving either. A few too many scares in the night for anyone to sleep but the ex agent was now stable enough.    
  
News had reached Bobbi and Hunter who were ‘tying up loose ends'. Simmons couldn't help but dread what that could mean. 

Mack and Fitz had not stopped looking for a link for this key. Yo-Yo had searched everything they found with Daisy checking for anything else but she wasn't even found with a phone. They were guessing everything must be the ghost rider car, not that they could locate that at the moment. Yo-Yo couldn’t help but feel useless. She knew that she was probably the last agent of SHIELD to see Daisy alive, it had been years ago but the feeling of guilt never left the inhuman. Yo-Yo had spoken to Daisy briefly after she had left. Stealing medical supplies from SHIELD when needed, she even knew that Daisy had met the Ghostrider, but even they lost contact after a while. Yo-Yo had gone undercover for 4 months tracking an 0-8-4 and when she came back to reality contacting Daisy Johnson was impossible once again. She was hunting hospital records with Simmons when Bobbi and Hunter arrived.

Bobbi hugged Simmons tightly, trying not to cry as soon as she walked through the door to the med bay. Hunter did the same.

"Welcome to the secret base under Head Office. Nice to see you both," Jemma said trying to pretend that she was fine. It felt like the least she could do. 

"Wish it was under better circumstances," Hunter replied, looking down at Quake who was still lying in the medical lab, now secure in a medical recovery pod.

The 4 of them made quiet small talk, trying not to talk about Daisy. The couple had heard from the director about Jemmas baby theory but didn't even know where to start processing. None of them could imagine the Daisy Johnson they knew as a mother. She was barely an adult herself, still looking for her own roots and place to settle. Bobbi and Hunter hadn’t seen Daisy when she left but they had heard stories from Mack and Coulson over the years since they reunited. They couldn’t imagine how broken the women must have been to have walked out. Bobbi always had a soft spot for the young hacker, seeing part of herself in the inhuman. The lost rage and longing for a sense of belonging was something both the women had in common. Bobbi couldn’t help but wish she had done more. The pair didn’t even try to reach out when they heard she went rouge. Looking back even Hunter wasn’t sure that was the right move.   
  


"We've got it!" Fitz exclaimed, holding the key up for everyone's attention. Before the others followed him to a large communication room just down the corridor.

"The key was purchased 18 months ago using a credit card linked to a Harriet James, we are guessing an alias as apart from one credit card and a library card. This woman doesn’t exist.” The engineer said slowly knowing it wasn’t much information.    
“The house linked to the card used was rented around the same time to one Kyle Mathews,” Mack continued on from his friend, pulling up a map of Los angeles showing the location of the property “Kyle doesn’t even have a current bank account that we can find, it appears rent is paid in cash each month. The owner of the house lives overseas and it was rented through an agency.”    
“We can’t find a connection between any of these names, they appeared active for 6 months then nothing.” He pulled up all the information onto the large screen before continuing, “also linked to the address was a netflix account in the name of Gabe Reyes, again no connection to either of the other names found but he does have a full identity at least. Medical records ECT.” Mac continued pulling up the information on the Gabe kid.

"No obvious links to Daisy, the Ghost Rider or Quake though," Fitz said letting out an audible sigh. “Even looked throughout rising tide database to see if any of the names appeared but nothing,”   
“And this Gabe kid couldn’t be the ghost rider?” Hunter asked.    
“He’s 21 and a Paraplegic still waiting for more information,” Mack replied. 

"It's not much," Hunter spoke, stating what everyone else was thinking

"It's all we have," May snapped back causing him to put his hands in the air defensively before Bobbi glared at him and the conversation ended as abruptly as it started. 

"Bobbi, Simmons grab your gear you're going with May," Coulson said, before turning to the boys. "Fitz, Mack keep hunting for anything on the ghost rider, finding out who it is might be the best option, if we can link any of them to this Gabe kid even better,"

"Yo-Yo, you and Hunter keep an eye on them from up here, speak to the team running the watchdog operation, be vague but see if they have heard of any of the people we have found. We don't know what this house even is or what these people were messed up in. Keep a quinjet on standby just in case," Yo-Yo and Hunter simply nodded. Before everyone headed their separate ways.

Years ago, before the battle of N ew-York Coulson would have passed this to someone else, someone who couldn’t make it personal but something stopped him this time, this was Daisy. His Daisy. No matter how hard it tried it felt personal. It felt like his responsibility to put the pieces together even if he needed to do it from a distance.

\--

Silence came over them all as they prepared for what could be a dead end. Simmons wasn't holding on much hope for Daisy Johnson to wake up anymore, so finding out about her life after SHIELD might be the closure she needed. They all needed.

"I'm flying," Bobbi stated as they walked into the quinjet. May looked at her opening her mouth as if to speak then swiftly closing it again,   
"Your in no state to fly May; and we don't know what we are facing this might be a dead end,"

"This is all we've got," Jemma said through gritted teeth strapping herself in.

They parked at an airfield about 30 miles out before driving to the house. The women sat in silence, none of them even sure where to start on the small talk front and none of them wanted to talk about all the possible outcomes for this trip.

The road looked quiet enough, Bobbi was well aware of the various gangs present around this part of the city. She had done undercover work not far from the house in her early days. It hadn’t changed; the street was a monochromic patchwork blanket littered with cracks. The houses looked nice enough, none of them rundown or fancy enough to stand, not that any of them could imagine the Daisy Johnson they knew living round there. She would often talk about getting somewhere off base but it was always to get an apartment in the city not a house on the rougher side of town.    
  


"Not seeing any devils," Bobbi muttered as the trio got out of the car and started to look around fruther. From the looks around the street she became instantly glad they had brought an unmarked car and avoided full tactical gear. They were getting enough subtle window glances as it was and if this was a dead end they didn’t want whoever lived in this house to be forced out by suspicious neighbours.

They knocked on the door slowly. The silence led them to turn the key into the lock. As they opened the door they heard the alarm going off.

"Cause she would have a high tech invisible security system," May muttered to herself as she automatically pulled out her gun trying not to roll her eyes. The key worked, that was a start.

"Any idea how to turn it off?" Bobbi turned to Jemma who looked just as taken back as the rest of them.   
“Not the engineer,” Jemma reminded them.

The alarm went silent after several minutes and they started to look around.

"She definitely lives here," Simmons said, pulling a photo off the mantelpiece. She recognised Daisy, in some ways the girl had barely aged at all but the smile in the photo was something Jemma hadn't seen in years. Daisy was sat on the top of a black car, her hair darker than when she had left SHIELD and cut off at shoulder length, the outfit wasn’t something Jemma would have pictured her old friend in but she was smiling, bottle of water in one hand leather jackets being grasped with the other. Examining the picture closer it could have been the car used by the ghost rider. Jemma was instantly wishing she had paid more attention when Mack would start debating old cars with the director. A man she didn’t recognize was in the driver's seat with a small girl on his lap, the girl was a spitting image of Daisy couldn’t have been much older than a toddler in the photo.

"I have a gun," A voice echoed from the back room pulling all the girls into agent mode.

"We come in peace," Jemma yelled back her voice going up an octave with every word, causing the women to look at her.

A young lad couldn't have been much older than 18 wheeled himself into view holding an old SHIELD issued icer in his hand.

"Yep she definitely lives here," May stated, eyeing up the gun in the teenagers possession, doubting there were even any bullets left.

"Who are you?" The boy asked again.

"My name is Jemma Simmons," Jemma spoke, pulling her ID out of her pocket and flashing the shield logo.

"We came here to find-," May continued before getting cut off by the teenager in the wheelchair.

"You came about Daisy didn't you," His voice suddenly changed and May heard his heart sink as he looked around.

"Is it true?" The young man asked not yet lowering the weapon.

"Daisy is alive, not doing well but not dead. No other survivors have been found," Bobbi spoke slowly looking at the scared teenager in front of her. 

The young man looked down at his chest for a moment as if to compose himself.

The agents let the silence take over, not really sure what the best option was. 

"Uncle Gabe did you set the alarm off?" A girl came out causing the SHIELD agents to stop and instinctively lower their weapons. The young child had a smile on her face, the kind of infectious smile that only a child can possess. Her brown eyes seemed to gleam across the room as she hid behind her dark wavy hair.   
"What are you doing in my house," The girl asked, turning to the agents who stood in the hallway, crossing her arms not letting her innocent smile fade. Her confidence couldn’t help but remind May of Daisy, the small level of sass within her voice. 

"Jamie Mae. Go upstairs," Gabe shot back fast, lowering the gun from view and turning to face the little girl who simply stuck her tongue out at the man, she didn’t seem overly phased by the guns currently on display. May was hoping she hadn’t noticed them. The senior agent was doing anything she could to stay on mission but the girl looked like the woman fighting for her life on the med-bay table. 

The agents looked round at each other before anyone said anything else.

"We are just here for answers," May said looking between the girl and the man in a wheelchair. 

"We just want to help, we are old friends of Daisy," Bobbi replied softly, looking around at the family home that had been created.

"Funnily enough, people that break into houses with guns don't normally want to help," Gabe remarked the hint of sarcasm in his voice was clear as his guard began to rise again. Putting his hand to the side to stop the young girl walking any further into the room. 

"We actually had a key," Jemma couldn’t help but point out, instantly realising why she didn't normally get invited on the welcome wagons.

"If you actually unlocked the door you wouldn't have set off the alarm," 

"Look, Gabe is it?" Bobbi took over the conversation when she noticed May wasn't really with the group anymore.

The boy nodded.

"We want to help, we are with SHIELD. Daisy used to be part of our team." Bobbi continued “You saw the news-” she didn’t get to finish before the boy spoke again,

"How come we haven't met any of you? I know she's not one for staying put but I haven't seen any of you before." 

"Gabe she's in the photos," The girl says quietly again pointing towards May before pointing towards the box through the glass doors that led into the kitchen. Gabe knew he recognized the face but didn’t want to let his guard drop. Daisy had taught him a lot over the years on how to keep his family safe. He never really paid much attention when she spoke about why they moved a lot or why he always had to double bolt the door. He was trying to hold his own but he had heard what the women had said his deminer couldn’t help but change: no other survivors found, that meant his brother was gone.

"Do you live here?" Simmons asked while May was trying to hold herself together.

"No," he shook his head, "I'm in college upstate just come down to babysit while I'm on break, I was due to leave tomorrow." May nodded letting the lad continue.

"I help them out sometimes. It’s easier for me to watch her then someone else. They don't trust easy,"

"They?" May asked cutting the boy up just as he was starting to speak.

"Daisy and Robbie." 

"Robbie who?"

"Robbie Reyes. My older brother. This is his and Daisy's place," He said lifting the gun up slowly "Did Daisy send you? Are you sure you even know her? I really think you should leave. I am sure one of them will be back soon. This wouldn't be the first time their ‘date nights’ lasted longer than expected," Gabe spoke defensively. "And it's not like the news is known for its honesty" he added his voice shaking quietly hoping his niece wouldn't hear him. 

"Look Gabe, we just want to talk," May said, finally putting her gun firmly away. 

“I’m going to call base,” Bobbi said, deciding that she couldn’t look at the mini version of Daisy any longer and needing a chance to look around the place further.

  
“She’s my family,” May admitted as Bobbi exited the situation and went back outside, “Close or not she was one of the closest things I had and now she is fighting for her life on Doctor Simmons Med table” Then she paused for a second before putting her focus back on the little girl who was looking around at the strangers in her home, “Please,” She pleaded in a way no one had seen her done in a long time.    
Gabe nodded, lowering his weapon once again. 

… 

“Bobbi,” Hunter said barely letting the phone ring,  
“She lived here, lives here,” Bobbi corrected herself as she spoke, wiping a single tear from her eye. “She had an actual life here,” She said slowly looking around at the neighbourhood.    
“She did spend her evenings murdering people Bob,” Hunter replied in his usual matter of fact tone.   
“She has a daughter, can’t be much older than 4,” Bobbi continued. “She actually did it, she just left us all behind and created something new.”   
“She went rogue Bob and look at her now she is unconscious in a hidden SHIELD base, handcuffed to the bed in a containment pod,” Hunter was being harsh because he needed to. Not for Bobbi but for himself, to remind them both of what Bobbi and him stood for. Until he joined SHIELD, he never got what his ex-wife was on about, how all the secrets and lies were worth it but then he joined. Mainly for the nice signing bonus when they reformed; but he soon realised what he was protecting and that what he was fighting for was worth more than a quick payday.    
“She looks like Daisy. Actually the spitting image. Even has that tone in her voice,” Bobbi paused between each statement letting them sink in.   
She stopped for a moment seeing a car pull up next to the propriety, she couldn’t help but place her free hand on her weapon strapped to her side making brief eye contact with their SUV debating whether she could get her batons. Before letting her eyes scan the rest of the street. Her heart stayed perfectly calm but she couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief when it just appeared to be simply a neighbour returning home.   
"Sorry to bother you,” The agents shouted, waving her hand a little while walking over to the neighbours house, “but what do you know about the couple that live next door?" Bobbi asked the women exiting the car next door, putting her phone down by her side but not hanging up or her ex.

The older woman stared the agent up and down for a moment, clearly debating whether to answer the question.

"Young couple," The women replied slowly, "Keep themselves to themselves really, never hear anything from them other than his awful car exhaust, think he works nights. Comes and goes at all hours," The women continued clearly getting caught up in her subtle dig at her neighbours, "but he did help fix my husbands van only a few weeks back, that was probably the first time I ever heard the poor bloke speak," Bobbi nodded before turning away and letting the women get back to unloading her shopping bags.

"Loud arrogant car, sound like anyone?" Bobbi placed her phone back to her ear before speaking.

"Ghost rider," Hunter muttered trying to hide that he had been trying to get his ex wife's attention while unaware she didn’t have the phone to her ear.    
“Anyone else there?” Hunter decided to change the subject.   
“That Gabe kid. Gabe Reyes. And I think I know who the ghost rider is, was,” She corrected herself again, “Robbie Reyes,” Bobbi continued, forcing herself into work mode once again.   
“Couldn’t you have started with that information,”    
“Hunter seriously,”   
“Robbie Reyes got it,” Hunter was making a mental note on the other side of the phone.   
“Any news on the Ghostrider?”   
“Nothing as of yet, no ghost rider sighting but if you're telling me he doesn’t look like the devil at all times he could be anywhere. And if this Robbie guy has stayed off our radar so far then I am guessing Daisy taught him how to hide well,”   
“Or he just doesn’t stand out,” Bobbi remarked looking around a little bit further.   
The pair continued to talk like it was any old case, like they didn’t know or care about the person in the emergency medical bay. Like the whole team hadn’t waited for this phone call since she left.   
Bobbi walked around the property making note of the punching bag in the backyard, it was well used and pretty beaten.    
“Bobbi, just got word there is Military vehicles 15 miles from you, it could be a coincidence but-,”

“Thanks hunter we will bring them in,”   
“Don’t die out there,”   
“I’m bringing in a child,”   
“Exactly,” He remarked before hanging up the phone. Bobbi looked down at her device and couldn’t help but smile a little bit before letting her brain switch back to the matter at hand.

…

  
“Can we have a look around,” May asked slowly trying to ease the tension in the room, “We can take you to Daisy,” she added   
“Woah miss agent we are not going anywhere with you men in black. I don’t even know your name,” He said, putting the icer down on the side, still doing his best to keep the child away from the strangers in his brother's home.   
“Melinda May,”    
  
The boy's face said more than he ever could.    
“She spoke about me?” May couldn’t help but ask after reading the facial expressions around the room.    
Gabe through the glass door to the same box above the fridge. Causing the little girl to over take him and walk over to the two women.   
“That's my Mom's sad box,” She said.   
“Why would a shoe box be sad?” Jemma asked, causing the little girl to turn and look at her.   
“Whenever she's looking at it she is always sad. It's the only thing that makes her sad, sometimes when me and Dad play she comes in here to look at it. She thinks I don’t notice but I notice everything.” The girl said almost proudly. She was too young to understand what that all meant but the agents did.   
Gabe couldn’t help but be on edge when they took it off the shelf and placed it onto the kitchen table. He couldn’t help but keep his distance. May opened the lid while Gabe stood firmly in the hallway looking through the open glass doors that separated the rooms. 

  
The younger Reyes brother never loved having Daisy around. They got on as well as 2 people who have totally different ethical and moral values could. Gabe liked the side that Daisy brought out of his Brother but he didn’t like the side that Quake brought out. Violence wasn’t ever something that Gabe could understand, he had given up trying to understand the older couples night job but they were all the family he had, he never asked too many questions and they didn’t talk about it. It worked best that way. He couldn’t remember a time without the night jobs. Even since Daisy came into their lives Robbie never really settled this was the longest his brother had spent in one place since Jamie was born.   
May let out a brief sigh as she opened the battered box.    
There wasn’t much in there. The bobble headed doll Daisy had first brought onto the bus from her Van, the thing Simmons had saved before the Bus went down. It was always in Daisy's bunk she had almost completely forgotten about it until she saw it. Her hands stopped when she saw the photo of her and Coulsin. She couldn’t help but notice how much the pair had aged since it was taken. They all looked so happy.    
Simmons smiled as she saw a god awful drunk selfie of her and Daisy had made it into the sad box, she couldn’t remember exactly when it was taken but judging by the haircuts and beaker glasses it was during the time that they had convinced fitz to help them make wine in the spare room. A project quickly shut down by May but they still had a few good weeks of drinking science made wine and forgetting everything they had seen.    
“See it's a sad box,” The girl muttered, noticing May letting a tear slip from her cheek.   
“Oh she's not sad sweetie,” Jemma said, getting down to the girls level. “They are happy tears, we’ve been looking for your Mom for a long time.”   
“I’m Jemma,” Jemma added deciding to try to talk to the young girl in front of her,    
“My name is Jamie Mae,” The girl replied holding her stuffed monkey close to her chest as she spoke.   
May looked up from the box and wiped her eyes. She thought she had heard it earlier but now she was sure of it.   
  
Bobbi walked back in,   
  
“We need to get going,” She ordered firmly.    
“Get going?” Gabe asked, matching the agent's tone, instantly looking down at his niece.    
“Does the kid have a go bag?” Bobbi asked only looking at Gabe. 

“Bobbi?” Jemma questioned feeling like she had missed something.    
“Government official cars have been sighted less than 10 miles from here, do you really want to chance it?” She snapped focusing on her colleagues.    
“Woah woah women in black what makes you think we are going anywhere with you?” Gabe asked, trying to motion his niece to get away from the women.    
“Don’t come then. But we are under orders to take the kid.” Bobbi spoke strongly trying to push any personal feelings to the back of her mind.    
“We aren’t going anywhere! Jamie is safe here, with me!”    
“What are you going to do? Give up your life to raise her. Just waiting until you get arrested for some trumped up charge because your brother and his girlfriend couldn’t face their punishment. And what do you think they will do with her?” Bobbi asked sharply pointing at the child who appeared to be out of earshot still looking at the photographs with agent May.    
“They go out all the time; why now? Why did they have to die now,” He admitted quietly. Gabe spoke like he was questioning them, but they knew he didn’t want their input, letting his voice crack and tears flowing from his cheeks.   
“You should really come with us,” Jemma motioned slowly talking to the young lad in her view.    
“Do you have anywhere you can go, if you don’t want to come with us?” Bobbi asked, she had calmed down now feeling instantly guilty for her tough guy act. She was never one for talking.    
“I am meant to be getting on a plane, going back to college,” The young boy said looking around the house before focusing back on the small girl who appeared to be none the wiser.   
“You do that,” Bobbi said nodding her head quickly.    
“I don’t know you; why would I give you Jamie,” His voice had switched to anger now. Jamie must have been able to hear it but she didn’t look up. Jemma couldn’t imagine what emotions were going through the young man's head, never mind having to find it all out because 3 people broke into your house.   
“Because Daisy trusted us, we are the people in those photographs,” Jemma pleaded, trying and failing to be the voice of reason. There was no right thing to do, they all knew that. They just needed to keep the child safe.

  
“You knew who Melinda May was, why?” Jemma questioned looking over to the women in the kitchen before turning back.   
“Daisy,” His voice barely more than a whisper. “She taught me these dumb control exersises to help with my nerves for exams. She told me they were taught to her by some Melinda May. I always assume that was her Mom. The way she would occasionally mention her. The slip of the tongue kind of way” If Melinda wasn’t listening before her ears had caught onto the conversation. “Daisy when she first moved in with us, she was paranoid. Didn’t even have a phone contract kind of paranoid. Used to carry cash, wear gloves and not go to hospitals, not even for painkillers, this was before the whole Quake hiding her face.” His voice lowered at the mention of Quake, they had done all they could to shelter the girl from what her parents got up to in their spare time but everyone had heard of Quake and Ghost rider, they were sure the girl was no exception, “Her arms were constantly broken or bruised but nothing would convince her to go into a hospital. Until Jamie was born,” He paused for a moment, “that's the only time I had ever seen either of them enter a hospital and I overheard them talking before they went. If anything went wrong when they were there, if someone recognized her through the wig. Robbie was told to phone some number they had hidden and say something like ‘Melinda May it's about Skye’.” He couldn’t help but mock his older brother's voice as he quoted the conversation before the student paused for a moment trying to gauge the room, he was still processing and the tears were flowing calmly from his eyes, “I just hadn’t heard the name in a while. She hasn’t mentioned it since Jamie was born. 

“Did they not leave you with instructions in case they didn’t return,” Bobbi couldn’t help but question thinking about what she would have done if she were Daisy. 

“I have a backup plan letter but that's only to be opened after 5 days no contact,” Gabe admitted.   
  


Melinda was looking up at the people standing on the other side of the room. She felt a tug on her arm.   
The girl was looking up for her.   
“I have a go bag,” The small child muttered.    
  


May wanted to listen to the rest of the conversation but she knew they needed to move.   
“She's got a go bag,” May announced before anyone could even acknowledge what Gabe had said.   
“Course she does,” Jemma couldn’t help but roll her eyes.   
“Can we go and get it,” May turned trying her best to keep it simple, the little girl who simply nodded.   
“Look why don’t we take Jamie, just for safety.” Jemma reasoned, she wasn’t sure she would ever hand a kid over but it was easier than having to take them by force, “Hopefully Daisy will be stable enough that she can see her and we will contact you tomorrow.”   
“When it all dies down you can come back here, but the news got a clear video of Daisy's face, if you neighbours recognise her then it won’t be good.” Bobbi let her tone of voice change once May and Jamie were definitely out of earshot.    
“My brothers dead, isn't he?” He asked quietly looking down at the floor.   
“We have taken over the case,” Jemma replied softly. “We have teams searching the rubble. If his body is there we will find it,”   
“And if it's not?” Gabe looked up,   
“Then the chances are he made it out alive,”    
“Look Gabe, we are sorry for all this. If we had another way, another plan we would take it,” Bobbi assured the boy, looking at her watch before taking it off and handing it to the young man.   
“If you want to find us all you do is press the home screen hard. It will send out an alert and we will contact you,” she said knowing it was the right thing to do. She really wanted to be able to leave the house without an incident, ideally she would force both of them to come to SHIELD safety but she knew that Coulson would flip if she iced anyone for ease purposes.   
“And” Jemma pulled out her card as she spoke, “My number incase anything happens or you chance you mind about wanting to be abducted by SHIELD and taken to an unknown location,”    
Gabe smiled a little before pocketing the watch and the card,   
“Thank you,”

“Take the sad box,” Jemma said, turning to May before picking up one of the few photos of the little family off the side and holding it tightly.    
  


“Hey Jamie,” Gabe spoke slowly as Jamie and May came back into view, “You need to go with these people okay? Just for a little bit?”    
“You're sending me away?” The girl questioned before Gabe pulled her onto his lap and in for a hug.    
“You are going to see your Mom. See that woman there,” Gabe pointed, turning to Melinda May.    
“She’s your gran and she's going to make sure you and Mom stay safe,” He closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling as he spoke,   
“I am not a gran,” Melinda grumbled through gritted teeth causing the women around her to smile through their sadness. It didn’t bring them any joy to do this, but Coulson knew what might happen if anyone got hold of the child, she was part quake and part ghostrider, even the director wasn’t sure how safe that combination sounded.   
“Lets go,” Bobbi ordered, looking at Simmons who wasn’t even sure what the next steps were meant to be. They had all planned and prepared themselves for the key to be a dead end not a gateway into the life Agent Daisy Johnson created without them. 

Gabe quickly went and collected some of Daisys belongings, things she might need if she wakes up. None of the agents had the heart to tell him that their director was currently fighting to keep her in a SHIELD base never mind alive.

  
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” May asked as the girl walked out with Jemma and Bobbi. May was holding a small black duffle bag that was stored at the bottom of the girls wardrobe. The girl had added a couple of toys into it once they had gone into her room. Putting her trusted teddy in there for safe keeping.

  
“I know that Daisy would have wanted her daughter with you,” He said through gritted teeth and teary eyes. “And I know that the news makes out that my Brother and Daisy do some horrible things but they are good people,” He said looking around his brother's home, wishing he had told them both he loved them when they had left the night before.

“Just because people do bad things sometimes, doesn’t make them bad people.” May said remembering a similar conversation she had had with Daisy years ago.   
“You might want this,” He said handing a letter over to the older agent, “I flicked through it, you were who I was meant to contact anyway,” He admitted slowly.    
May nodded she didn’t know what to reply. They were breaking up the only family Gabe had.    
“We will be in touch,” May added before pausing to contain herself. “We will be in touch about Robbie and Daisy. And I will see you soon,”    
  


They drove to the quinjet in silence. The little girl stared out the window not saying very much at all. No one was sure what to say. Jamie sat so still, eyes following the birds in flight out of the window. Not saying anything, just looking.   
  
“I will phone Coulson once we get in the air,” May said as they pulled up to the plane.   
“Is that a plane?” the little girl asked her eyes wide as the car drove up to the landing pad.   
“Yes,” Jemma replied softly before realising she didn’t know anything about the child in her care, “Have you ever been on one?”    
The girl shook her head as they got out of the van and stepped foot onto the jet.

“Where are we going?” The girl finally asked as Simmons lifted the child into a seat trying to work out how to safely harness her in, causing the women to look at each other.   
May nodded before getting down to the height of the now strapped in child.   
“You are being very brave, you know that,” May said, ignoring all the questions.   
The girl nodded tears starting to well up into her eyes,   
“I want to see my Mom and Dad,”    
“Jamie your mum was hurt okay?” May decided to talk to the child honestly hoping for the best.   
“And we are taking you to go and see her,” She continued not sure how to read the facial expression of the small version of Daisy in front of her,    
“What about my Dad?”    
“Your Dad is busy at the moment,” May couldn’t believe she was lying to the child now.   
“Working, fixing cars?” The girl asked.   
“Your Dad is doing something very important that's why we have to look after you,”

“May we are taking off in 5, strap in,” Simmons said, trying not to butt into the conversation.   
“Your May too?” The girl asked looking Melinda into the eye for the first time,   
“Yes, I’m Melinda May,”    
“You can always trust a May,” The girl said, wiping the tears from her cheeks even though they continued to fall.   
“Who told you that?”   
“My Mom.” The girl said, her voice was soft, still filled with innocence and hope.    
  
May nodded to Simmons before sitting down next to the girl. Jemma sat beside May and while May held the hands of a child she didn’t get to see grow up Jemma kept one hand firmly on May's knee because she knew in that moment even May didn’t need to feel alone.    
“Are we up in the sky now?” The girl asked after the noise had quietened down, she looked shaken but as of yet no tears so the women were counting that as a small victory.   
“Don’t you catch on fast,” Jemma replied, making eye contact with the little girl, taking her seat belt off and heading to the seat next to the girl.    
“I have a toy of a plane,” The girl continued to talk as if the world didn’t phase her, a trait May couldn’t help but be grateful the child currently had.   
A quick nod to Simmons and she headed towards Bobbi in the cockpit.   
  
“We should be in the air less than an hour,” Bobbi said, not looking at the woman next to her.   
“Any news from base?”   
“She has stabilized again.”   
The older agent simply nodded.   
“Did you ever think you would see her again?”    
“Only to identify the body,” May uttered looking at the sky holding her tears back, “The Daisy that left that night was not the Daisy we knew, she was bruised and battered and scared and I let her walk away,”   
“That's not how I heard it,” Bobbi briefly placed her hand on the womens leg and squeezed it tight before looking back to the sky in front of her.   
“According to Simmons you sat by Daisy for weeks while she recovered, picked her up off her bathroom floor one to many times and never raised your voice, you did everything a mother can do.”   
“But she left anyway,”   
“You can’t hold yourself responsible for every action she has ever made,” Bobbi replied. “You know as well as I do you can’t help someone that doesn’t want it.”   
“We made her Quake, she was a hacker in a van and then became a fighter because we told her it was the best option for her. Because Coulson saw something in her.”   
“You didn’t make her quake, a fucked up temple, unknown genetic factors and kree blood alongside a never ageing homicidal mother and misguided drugged up father made her quake.”   
Bobbi paused for a moment, “Actually I think it was CNN that made her quake,”   
“She was the closest thing to a daughter I ever had,”,   
“And now you get to be Gran,” Bobbi smirked.   
Even through the steady stream of tears Melinda Mays death stares still sent small shivers down the pilots back. The blonde shield agent wasn’t sure she had ever seen this much emotion in the senior agent sitting next to her. May had the letter Gabe had given her firmly tucked into her jacket pocket, she wasn’t sure it would say anything helpful. It wasn’t even for her, it was addressed to Gabe, why did he even want her to have it.   
  


"Do you want to see something cool?" Jemma asked the girl who was starting to look overwhelmed.

The girl simply nodded. Everyone could understand why the young child was starting to struggle but there was no training on this kind of situation, no best way to handle it. 

Jemma looked over to the cockpit briefly before unlocking the little girls seat belt and putting her hand out for the girl to grab onto. Walking on a moving plane was second nature to the scientist at this point but she forgot how strange it must be for the child to do. 

Without thinking she picked Jamie up, deciding that she didn’t need another Johnson in her medbay and ambled to where the 2 older women were sitting now in silence. Everyone was still processing, no one knew how to treat the small smiling child in their possession. She was just a kid, but she had the potential to be dangerous, they all knew that. They all knew the destruction Daisy's parents had caused, the destruction Daisy herself had caused. May was trying not to think of the small girl she had killed all those years ago. Trying to hold it together. 

"Agent Morse, I'm bringing in a guest," Bobbi looked back and smiled at Jemma with Jamie. Jemma was the obvious mother figure between the three of them but something made Bobbi's heart break when she saw it, the little girl reminded her of a life she could have had. 

"Wow," The little girl exclaimed as Jemma placed her on Mays lap. May took off her headset, placing it over the girl's ears as the girl started to smile again. 

"Look," The girl spoke softly as she pointed down to the clouds that scattered around the plane. May loved the sky, after everything she had been through sitting in a cockpit felt more like home than anywhere else she had tried to lay her head over the years. 

Jemma had never seen the senior agent like this before, watching May point at the clouds with the small version of Daisy, was a strange sight. Watching the agent they knew and all loved fit so easily into parent mode was something neither of them expected. May let her eyes gaze upwards as the child put her hands on the glass looking around. For a second Melinda May stopped worrying about the what ifs and enjoyed the nothing of the moment.

"Where are we going?" The girl turned and faced May who was now looking firmly at her.

"Is it a different country?" The questions continued to fire off the girl's tongue.

"No sweetie," May said softly, holding the girl tightly in her arms while they enjoyed the view and for a second she could put off the pain that was about to come. 

"Heading down in 10," Bobbi said, breaking up the moment. 

The older women simply nodded.

"We need to get you strapped back in," Jemma said holding her hand out for the girl to grab onto.

The girl looked between the women for a moment before grabbing onto May tightly just for a moment,

"I've got her," May stated softly looking at the scientist who simply nodded before preparing for the descent.

May helped the girl off her lap before getting her strapped into the seating in the back. May didn't leave her side, holding her hand tightly.

"Is my Mom okay?" The girl asked quietly. 

"Your Mom just needs some help right now," May replied softly. "We are helping her,"

"Jemma is a special doctor. Her and her husband are helping," May continued looking up to Jemma who was holding a fake smile as well as she could.

"You have a husband?" The girl asked, looking at Jemma.

"You're going to meet him in a minute." Jemma confirmed, really trying to hold her smile. It broke her a little bit more every time she realised the girl didn't know anything about the people that had taken her.

\---

"She must be terrified. she has no idea who we are or where we are," Yo-yo remarked looking at Bobbi who was a new shade of white after coming off the jet.

"She regonised May," Bobbi added, looking over to the older woman who was sitting with the little girl going through the go-bag they had collected from the house. "I honestly think that's the only reason we haven't had to deal with a child having a meltdown," 

"Hows Daisy?" Bobbi asked, turning back to Mack and Yo-yo.

"Unconscious but stable. Jemma's just gone back in, Fitz is working on something to help with the breaks in her body but it's going to be a long road" Mack admitted letting the words fall off his tongue slowly.

"I need to go and speak to Coulson," Bobbi decided she needed to get out of the conversation. There was no good outcome, the couple had spent several years away from SHIELD and always regretted not reaching out to Daisy when they found out she left, but something always stopped them. All Bobbi was feeling now was regret. All everyone was feeling was regret. 

\---

"This is Fitz," The girl said, pulling out the stuffed monkey she was holding earlier from her bag and showing it to Melinda. 

"Fitz the monkey," Melinda couldn't help but smile.

"We have a Fitz," She added

"Is he a monkey?" The girl asked hopefully,

May let out a small laugh, "He wishes"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All spelling mistakes are my own!

"Jamie Mae, this is Director Phil Coulson," May said, causing Phil to come closer to them. 

The women had decided in unspoken words that meeting everyone all at once would be overwhelming and and scary for the seemingly unphased girl. She had taken to May almost instantly so staying by her side seemed like a good place to start. Melinda was more nervous about Coulson than anyone else, Coulson when Daisy left was like nothing she had ever seen before, his ruthlessness in finding her. His anger and guilt, similar to the way she was after Bahrain. 

  
The senior agent had done all she could for the director all those years ago, hit him with the hard facts and the home truths even she didn't like. Then when he had stopped looking, stopped tearing himself apart for any spec of information, when he had started to forgive himself for who their daughter had become May started looking. But not for Daisy, for the watchdogs. She had trained the inhuman. Tracking the watchdogs was how the SHIELD Watchdog division got set up. The previous director pulled the whole of Coulson's team off anything that could link to Quake to stop it from getting personal. As May watched the little girl play she was instantly angry at Mace, it could have all been so different. If she had been allowed to put all the efforts into finding her, done it all above board with a team. It could have all been so different. 

The girl looked around for the box of photos next to them before pulling out the one of her Mom, Melinda and Phil.  
The girl looked up from her monkey to a face she also recognised. She looked at May who simply nodded.

"From the pictures," The girl whispered quietly looking at May.

May looked between the picture and the girl, deciding that the photo needed a frame, it was a nice picture until she saw it in the house she had forgotten they had even taken it. The weeks that followed that photo, with the collapse of SHIELD was a messy one. She didn't even think for a moment that Daisy would hold that moment near to her, with the date it was taken scribbled on the back in pencil.   
"Hi, nice to meet you," Phil got down to the same level as May as the small child.

"Hi," The girl replied, showing the photo to Phil much like she had done in her kitchen with May. It made sense that she was more relaxed around faces she recognised.

She looked between Phil in the photo before pointing. 

"Mom, you and Gma May," She said looking between the adults handing the photo to Phil and holding on tight to Fitz the monkey.  
Phil couldn't think of anything to say he just looked at the little girl, she was everything she pictured and so much more, her voice was innocent and didn't have a strong accent anywhere. 

"Wasn't me" May mouthed knowing why he had stopped in his tracks. 

"Where my Mom?" The girl asked looking up and the director. 

"She's resting," It was all the Director could muster, looking down at the photo as he spoke, unlike May he could remember the exact moment Daisy got her badge, the moment he got to prove to her how much she was worth. It was a true sign that to him she wasn't replaceable.

"Can I see her?" The girl asked looking down at the photos.   
"Soon baby-girl," May said, making an effort to soften her voice, causing the girl to look back at her.   
The looks shared between the 2 adults were as much pain as they were fear. There was no happiness, just a lot of questions. They were glad that the child was unharmed and safe but it was hard to keep their heads in the game. SHIELD was no place to look after a family, no place for a child to look or even stay. They didn't have a plan for Daisy, they weren't even sure if she was going to wake up. 

\---

"Fitz" Jemma said slowly as they both stared between the sleeping child and the heart rate monitor on her tablet. 

"I know what you're thinking," he replied, his tone hiding the fear in his voice.

"I don't think you have a clue," she said letting the tears fall as she spoke.

"I know you Jemma, you're trying to be Doctor Simmons, assisting the patient in front of you while trying not to overthink or panic about the inhuman child sleeping in the spare bunk. But, in reality you all you want is just for Daisy to be okay.” He paused for a moment knowing this wasn’t the time for him to be angry, “even after everything, it's all that we want,"

He pulled his wife into a tight embrace and just held her while she cried in the dark SHIELD hallway. People walked past but didn't say anything, avoiding looking at the senior agents having a moment in the hall. Fitz was holding it together because one of them needed too. He was ignoring the anger inside him, his own emotions had taken him by surprise. The engineer always assumed he would be happy, please even, to see Daisy again but he was full of rage, resentment over her return. 

"She can't die now," Jemma croaked in between tears.  
"I really don't think a bomb will kill her off," Fitz commented, trying to keep his wife calm, trying to stop her from spiralling. Jemma was his number one concern, so he just needed to focus on her. 

\---

"I can't actually believe that we have her back in a shield facility," Bobbi remarked looking at the people around the table. 

"The same could have been said about you pair," Mack added, eyeing up his old friends.

"She's not going to be happy about it when she wakes up, " Yo-yo admitted, taking a sip of the import beer they saved for emergency situations.

"If she wakes up," Hunter couldn’t help but point out in his normal tone. He wasn't sure if he was trying to make a joke or state facts. Either way the death stare from Bobbi made him realise it probably wasn't the time.

"She will wake up," Bobbi snapped, gripping her glass tightly in her hand.

"You didn't see her when she left here, she wasn't the agent you would have remembered. She was barely a shell," Mack reminded her, trying not to think back to the months after Lincoln's death.

"It has been nearly 5 years, she has a life now," Yo-yo would always stand up for Daisy. They both understood what it was like to change, to become someone else because of genetics. 

"Everyone has to settle somewhere in the end." The inhuman added looking towards Mack and the life they had built in the previous years. 

"You should have been in the house though, couldn't get any further from her old cluttered bunk," Bobbi said, taking a sip of her drink. "I think I had forgotten that the Quake on the news was still our Daisy the rest of the time," 

"Never thought that the quake on the telly had a sleeping child at home," Yo-Yo agreed  
"Now that would have been an interesting conversation to have to have with your child. Hi kid I carried for 9 months, I might get myself killed every night or worse arrested and taken to a sketchy government organisation," 

"Hunter that's enough!" Mack snapped sensing the women in the room tense up. 

"Daisy as a Mom is still something I would have wanted to see," Hunter shrugged, now actively avoiding eye contact with his ex. 

"Look at the pictures we brought from the house, she was definitely a Mom." Bobbi was looking at her ex husband as she continued. "And if you even spoke to that little girl you would know she was clearly a brilliant Mom,"

"The kid kinda scares me," he admitted looking down at the bottle in his hand. 

"Hunter she's 4," Yo-Yo laughed a little looking at her Husband for reassurance. 

"She's inhuman, well part inhuman and if we are assuming that devil skull thing is the Father then God knows what she is,"

"She's just a kid Hunter," Mack couldn't help but side with his wife. The pair had been trying to get pregnant for over a year. With little success, parenting was starting to become a sensitive topic. 

"What kid has a go bag?"

"One being raised by an orphan that's never said somewhere longer than a couple of years," Bobbi remarked trying to work out where the anger from Hunter was coming from.

"Or one being raised by one of the best agents SHIELD has seen," Mack added before finishing his beer.

\---

"Jamie is out like a light," May remarked walking into the office where Coulson was staring at the paperwork in front of him.

"Good, I can't imagine what today has been like for her," 

"Its like Daisy prepared her for this, she had a go bag and there has been no kicking or screaming, she's been good around the people whos faces matched the pictures in that godawful box-"

"Maybe she did," He cut her off before she could finish, he finally looked up from the letter Gabe had given May, facing the woman he loved. "All we know about Daisy since she left is the trial of destruction Quake left behind,"  
"It's more than that,"   
"Melinda," he stood up stopping her from talking. "You told me so many times that we stopped being responsible for her when she left in the middle of the night and started taking down buildings,"

"So what, you don't care now Phil? I know you have cut out every news paper clipping of her, printed off every photo. I don't need to remind you of the folder on your computer named after her just filled with possible sightings,"

"Don't say that," he snapped , "don't you ever say I don't care,"  
"Sorry, look-" the women started speaking but got cut off.

"If I could fix this I would, but Daisy made her choice when she left. I basically stalked her for months after," Phil replied, "You know how I feel about her! You know what she meant to me, what Daisy means to me." The director paused for a moment, "And I know what she meant to you,"   
"I honestly thought the next time we would see her would have been go identity a body,"  
"I know," he pulled the women he loved into himself.   
"She named her daughter after you," he smirked, kissing the top of Melinda's forehead.  
She wanted to be angry, to find the person who set off the bomb and beat them until they were black and blue. She wanted the ghost rider to still be alive so she could beat him for putting Daisy in danger, especially when she had a child. She wasn't sure whether any of it would help but the senior agent wouldn’t turn it down.

"We're her family," 

* * *

The days started to pass by slowly, she was stable but still hadn’t woken up, internal damage wasn’t as life threatening as they first assumed but there was still a lot of brokenness surrounding the ex-agent.  
  


"Is he really going to make a statement?" Hunter whispered to Mack as they stood around the TV watching a live broadcast.   
"People want answers," Mack didn't look at his friend, his eyes firmly on the screen.  
"He's already put it off twice," Jemma added sitting herself down on the sofa next to her husband. They should be there, stood by Coulson not watching it through the screen miles away.   
"It all seems very dramatic," 

"She has killed hundreds of people, good or bad their families want answers. Closure." Mack pointed out. He was trying to be imparcial trying to think what he would do if it was him in charge. He had never been so glad that he was out of the limelight.

"The military already released a statement saying she hadn't died and was now in secure custody,"

"And that was enough until some rookie agent told there wife we had her, and she told her entire book club one of which write for the new york times,"

"Women huh," Hunter couldn't help but speak his mind. It was keeping him calm even if it was slowly making his relationship worse. He let out a large winded breath of air as his Exwife smacked him in the stomach.

"Your the biggest huge gossip," She muttered through gritted teeth to her ex husband,

"There’s May," Fitz pointed to the screen where May had now entered the frame. There was a new reporter talking but they had decided to mute it until Couslon was talking, they had heard enough of the media's thought in regards to Quake. 

"Unmute it," Yo-Yo pointed to the screen where Coulson was now standing. It was part of the job he hated. He hated being in the public eye, having to defend his actions and the actions of his organisation to untrained unprofessional judging eyes. Who would tell him 100 other ways it could have been done.

"Good afternoon," His voice bellowed through the microphone, "I am director Coulson of SHIELD," He took a gulp looking briefly at May before continuing. She was there as much for emotional support as protection.

"In regards to the new leak of Quake being released to SHIELD," He took a quick look at the badly written notes in his hand before continuing, "I am unable to comment on the whereabouts or recovery of the individual in question, or the ongoing investigations she is involved in. We can confirm she is alive and secure. It is common knowledge that Quake is an inhuman, for those reasons it was deemed she needed to be secured somewhere that could contain her successfully. GhostRider has been declared deceased," He looked straight into the camera ignoring the shouting from the crowd, he was doing everything he could do stay calm, to be the clear headed director SHIELD needed "No further questions will be taken at this time, thank you," 

It was over before it had even started Coulson exited the stage behind May, another SHIELD agent was behind him. They all knew there were at least 2 dozen undercover agents manning every entrance and exit, they were expecting a large watchdog presence and Coulson getting shot at was something everyone wanted to avoid. 

"Well that was anticlimactic," Fitz muttered, he wasn't sure what he was expecting but it was not that. 

"At least it's over now," 

"I suspect that will not be the end of media hunting for answers," Yo-Yo added.

"Just be glad no one knows she's ex-shield, that will not help!" 

"You don't help!" Bobbi pointed out staring at her husband,

"It's the truth, imagine the media if they found out the terrorist known as Quake, their words not mine, used to hold a SHIELD badge."

"He does have a point,"

"Now your standing up for him," Jemma turned to her husband,

"Look, we have Daisy here. Safe and recovering. And her daughter is safe and hidden. No one outside of this room knows the identity of the ghost rider, meaning Gabe is safe. The Media knowing she is at one of many secret SHIELD bases isn't the worst thing they could know," Bobbi spoke assertively in the way May used to speak to her when she needed to hear the tough love. Daisy wasn’t really conscious, Jemma suspected even when the agent opened her eyes the pain would overwhelm her. Jemma was working on getting the pain under control hoping that would be the easiest way to recovery, Fitz was trying to find a way of making the Gauntlets work. Everyone was trying but it didn't always feel like enough.  
They were all searching for a way out, for an easy answer. For an outcome that made sense. All Coulson was doing was buying them time. He was buying SHIELD time to figure out if their friend could be saved, if their friend was even still their friend.

* * *

Daisy lay on the medical bay bed secure in a pod within a containment module, her face closed in a grimace. Every few minutes she would scream. May never went in, not since she had woken up but she heard it. It had a raw quality, the realness of a person consumed by a pain that knew no end or limit. Then she would go quiet, and May would listen to the uncontrollable sobbing. The sobbing of a person she should have never stopped looking for. Daisy's wounds were healing but she was in pain, no one expected her to survive. Her arms in full splints to both stop her powers and attempt to repair the years of damage she has caused herself. Her stomach was still strapped tight to prevent any stitches from coming loose and her shoulder taped up. She was a fighter and they all knew this. 

_2 weeks later_

"There has been Watchdog movement back in LA, an old lab, less than 5 miles from where Quake was found," Coulson avoided using her real name when talking to a large team, a team of agents who didn't know Daisy, who didn't know who she was before she left. 

"Hunter you can lead the strike team down, Fitz I want you on the ground, using your flying drones to scan everywhere. We don't need another exploding building. We don't know what game the Watchdogs are playing but we can't take any risks," Coulson spoke calmly avoiding eye contact with the few people in the room he knew well.

"We have good Intel that some high up watchdogs members will be there tonight. We need them alive, so Icers please," he added finally.

"They have bombs, and we are going to freeze them!" Hunter burst out, avoiding eye contact with Bobbi as he spoke, he didn't need another death stare. 

"Hunter, it's not up for debate right now," May commanded, taking over from the man she loved. She didn’t want to use icers, but she knew why they were being used. The explosion that went off, that took the building down, left a blast pattern like nothing they had ever seen. They needed answers. She had decided she would just kill them after she got what she needed from them.

"Live fast, die young, and leave a pretty corpse. That’s what I always say." He spoke smoothly hitting Fitz on the shoulder as he headed out to gear up

"Maybe you should say something else," Fitz shouted back, unable to hide the modified look from his face.

"How did you Marry him?" He turned to Bobbi who was looking at the information on the screen,

"Twice," Mack couldn't help but add quickly.

"How did you Marry him twice?" 

Bobbi rolled her eyes at the people she called her friends before heading out. There was someone she needed to see.

\---

"New and improved quarantine survival kit," a voice woke Quake up from her trance. She was just lying there. Her body sore and her mind wondering. She knew she was in some SHIELD base, she recognised the material of the containment room, not dissimilar to where she recovered from hive or where she had guided inhumans into. It didn’t have a TV like the one she remembered and even the bed didn’t feel as comfortable as she recalled but it had a bed and a table and a shower, they were all small wins compared to other places she had found herself. It still all felt more prison like then when she was on the other side looking in.

Daisy stood up in a slow motion as if she couldn't believe the woman who was standing in front of her. Moving her IV stand with her as she moved.

"Not quarantine so much as being hidden and locked up," Daisy replied sharply.

"Had to remove the can I'm afraid, a bottle of Pepsi was the best I could do." Bobbi continued before opening the hatch and putting the box of stuff in.

"Why am I here Bob, should I not be dead by this point?" Daisy asked slowly, still looking the ex agent up and down. 

"Simmons would never let that happen," Bobbi replied looking up at the shell of a women she remember, "And you have a kid to look after,” The agent forced a smile before continuing trying to remain friendly, “Which we are all a bit pissed we missed the memo about by the way," 

"Jamie," Daisy's mind raced to what could have happened to her, she was ashamed to admit it but the pain was all she could think about most of the time. 

"She's here. All safe. Mack and Fitz even made her a remote control car that can climb up walls," 

"You brought my daughter onto a SHIELD base!" If she had more energy she would have been angry. Bobbi noticed the numbers on the machine starting to spike.

"What option did we have? I assume you have already been told but you got blown up and then taken a a military hospital where they were ready to lock you up and throw away the keys for the hundreds of lives you have taken,"

"Bad guys," Daisy added more for her benefit then the agent looking back at her.

"We got your body was a mess so the director brought you here. I don't even want to think about how much shrapnel was pulled out of your body but Simmons can recount it piece by piece. Then when it hits us you might not die from blood loss or you know just generally been blown up, we find out you had a fucking Baby. An inhuman child tucked up in bed somewhere while you are fighting for your life.” Bobbi paused letting her voice settle, she was pulling from all her training, trying not to let it get personal in her tone. “Do you know how many people would kill for a tissue sample or Organ off your fully inhuman child." Mockingbird spoke harshly in the way she was able to do when holding her emotions in.

"Robbie isn't inhuman," Daisy replied thinking about the many conversations her and her boyfriend had had regarding his fire-head situation. Nothing stopped it going away. He would hope that every score would be his last that one more bad guy dead would settle his score but it never went away. It always ate at him. It was the first time Daisy had spoken to anyone since she had got her pain under control, the first time she had looked anyone in the eye. An armed man she didn’t recognize had been in to see her, to explain how long she was under for but nothing more, he wouldn’t give the inhuman any information on her family or where she was. She assumed that Simmons had been to see her wounds, she noticed the stitching pattern that was used but she hadn’t yet spoken to her old friend. 

"Robbie?" She looks up at the women in front of her,

Bobbi shook her head. “No body was found but no sighting either.” She watched Daisy look to the floor and sit back down but continued to speak, knowing that if she was Daisy she would want to know as much as she possibly could, “Now SHIELD knows who they are looking for. If he made it out, we will find him.” 

Daisy didn’t say anything, she was thinking, trying to work out where Robbie would have gone. He was always unkillable, many people had tried, the poor man had been run over more times than Daisy could remember and had taken more bullets for her then she could ever pay back but he would wake up the next day clean as a whistle.  
Bobbi looked at the monitor before glancing back through the glass.

"So if he isn't inhuman what is he?"

"He always told me he made a deal with the devil" Daisy replied. Her heart rate had begun to drop. She appreciated the honesty from Bobbi; she had missed it. The straight talking tone of her friends wasn’t something she tended to find on the school run.  
The agent raised an eyebrow

"Yeah it was easier when I thought he was inhuman,"  
Daisy smiled a little bit before looking around the room as if she was suddenly going to find an exit plan.

"Who else knows I'm here?" The inhuman knew the answer to the question, but she wanted to hear it, needed to hear it. 

"The whole bands back together don't you worry," 

"Just watching me like I'm a caged animal from a distance then,"

"May hasn't left outside your door in 2 weeks, Simmons hasn't done much more aside to work on that IV mix for your pain. Fitz cancelled his teaching classes and Coulson brings everyone takeout while they sit in the hall outside this room. They take it in turns looking after your kid, who seems to love Yo-Yo by the way. I think it's her ability to build forts quickly to be honest. A whole section of the base has been dedicated to keeping your recovery and your child safe” Bobbi smiled, she didn’t love spending all her time back on base. It didn’t do anything to keep her relationship going but she was almost enjoying having a child running around the place. They had cornered and blocked off access to B side. For safety. It was common knowledge that they were housing Quake, but keeping Jamie hidden was the new priority.  
“They haven't come to see you because...," Bobbi paused for a moment trying to work out how to describe the hurt she heard in their voices when they would speak about Daisy Johnson. "I wasn't here when you left, I didn't see you; but they did."

"I wasn't in a good place,"

"So I've heard,"

"What's going to happen to me?" Daisy looked up suddenly.

"You need to rest and get better," Bobbi remarked ignoring the question. She didn't know. No one knew what they were going to do.

"When can I see my daughter?"

"Daisy you have been in and out of awareness for 2 weeks, you spent the best part of a week screaming. Your body is battered and you have lost so much. You need to heal,"

"I won't hurt her if that's what you think, I would never hurt her,"

"No one is saying that,"

"No one is saying anything to me anyway," She muttered before Bobbi left. That night she cried, cried for the first time in a longtime for a reason other than being in unbearable pain. After everything she had done as Quake, part of her thought she was immune to human feelings, that the inhuman side of her, her mother's side was winning, match that with her father's anger and weakness scared her. Weakness couldn’t help but fill her with dread, weakness was how mistakes were made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot master the formatting issue so bare with me!


	4. Chapter 4

"With all due respect sir,"  
"My decision is final," even though he didn't sound convinced in his own words.  
"I need to change her dressings not operate on her,"  
"You want to enter that room then you sleeping gas her, its protocol,"  
"Yes for dangerous and unpredictable people,"

Coulson looked up from his desk before continuing.  
"Which is what she is,"  
"We are on about Daisy,"  
"The main concern is for the safety of my agents, is she dangerous?" He asked, trying to pretend this was just another case, another bad guy in custody. 

Jemma's silence said more to him then words could. The scientist wanted to protect the women she hadn't spoken to in years, to defend the Daisy Johnson she knew once but the truth was she was dangerous.   
"We can all be dangerous sir," Jemmas words were barely a whisper,  
"Follow the protocols Agent simmons or I can assign her care to someone-"  
"Have you even been to see her?" She asked the man in front of her.   
This time it was the directors time for silence, he looked up at the screen in front of him where the video camera from the containment module was playing. He had been planning on it, he had so much to say but when he stood outside the doors his mind went blank, he wasn't even sure where to start with it. His main concern was now Jamie, the sweet little girl thrown into a SHIELD base.

With that Jemma walked out holding her breath to combat the tears.    
  


* * *

  
"Simmons," Daisy said slowly as if she was imaging it,  
"Sorry about putting you back in sedation but it's easier to change your splints that way, and it means we don't have to handcuff you down," She spoke professionally for a second before finally facing her friend again,   
"Why am I still in the pod? I feel fine,"  
"Daisy," Simmons said slowly, trying her best to hold it together.  
"I have just found out that Robbie died, no one will let me see my Daughter. Fuck that, no one will even tell me if she's okay! and I am stuck in a box,"  
"It's not permanent,"   
"No I will just get to go to a secret underground prison once you can figure out how to move me without causing me to quake the place down,"  
"You killed people!" The scientist snapped back,  
"Bad people! I killed bad people, people that for years have hunted people like me!"   
"That's not the point!"  
"It is, some people don't deserve to be iced Jemma!"  
"Who made you judge, jury and executioner?"   
"Is that why you can't look at me? Is that why Coulson and May are avoiding me like the plague because they don't agree with my life choices."  
"Life choices are dying your hair or getting married not-"  
"Not what Jemma," Daisy snapped causing Jemma to look her old friend in the eye.  
"Not leaving and becoming everything you used to hate," Jemma's voice was shaking.   
"People change," Daisy said slowly sitting back onto the bed.   
"Yes but not everyone becomes a serial killer!"  
"What am I meant to say to that?" The inhuman looks up from the floor and greets her friends eyes through the glass.

"I'm sorry Jemma, I'm sorry that I left. I'm sorry that after I left got you to patch me up while I bleed out on an apartment floor,"  
"Only to leave again," Jemma cut in  
"Only to leave again," Daisy repeated nodding her head slowly.  
"But I will not apologize for being 'Quake'," She continued putting the word quake in quotation marks, "which for the record is a name I don't love," The ex-agent couldn't help but add.

Jemma sighed but couldn't bring herself to leave. 

"I've missed you," Daisy said slowly, her voice changed. It became the voice Agent Simmons recognised for the first time since Daisy had woken up. Daisy was no longer looking at her friend expecting anger in her voice, anger Jemma didn't really have.   
"You've missed a lot," Jemma said, pulling a chair closer to the glass. In that moment the Doctor decided that she had to pretend that the Daisy she loved wasn't the Quake that caused destruction and chaos.  Just catching up with an old friend she muttered to herself trying to remember what Fitz had told her before she left the lab.   
"What else did I miss?" Daisy asked looking down at her battered body. "You and Fitz got married obviously."  
"Yo-Yo and Mack. Been married 18 months," Jemma nodded as she spoke.  
"Have to admit I didn't see that coming," Daisy replied slowly trying to remember if she had been told that information before.  
"And obviously Bobbi and Hunter are back," Daisy added thinking back to her conversation with Bobbi a few days previous.  
"Not full time. They have to be careful but with SHIELD being all above board and official now it makes it easier for them not to be killed by the Russian government. Not impossible, they still have to be careful. Which considering their jobs they are not very good at."

Daisy nodded forcing herself to smile. She regretted asking what she had missed but she was appreciating being spoken to like she was a normal person not a prisoner. 

"They got married again,"  
"Oh Bobbi didn't say"  
"And, divorced again," Jemma added quickly, The inhuman smiled.  
"They did attempt a wedding... Ninjas turned up. It was a whole thing" Jemma let her voice relax slowly her hand gestures slowly returning as she let herself calm down.

"What about Coulson, him and May?"  
Jemma nodded with a smile.  
"At least that finally happened,"  
"You never got married then?" Jemma couldn't help but ask, even after it all she wanted to know what she had missed from her friends life. She wanted to fill in the blank gaps she had.  
"I don't think getting married would have helped us keep a low profile." Daisy smiled, "Was never even part of my thinking," There was a sadness in her voice. A reminder of what she had lost and of all she could have had.  
"You would have liked him," Daisy let herself keep talking, "He wasn't a rocket scientist or doctor but he was nice," She wasn’t sure Jemma would have liked him at all. She would have liked the way he cared about people and put his family first. She would have liked Robbie, the mechanic. She wouldn’t have liked the Ghostrider side of him.

"How did you even meet?" Jemma questioned trying her best to not make it sound like an interrogation.  
"Met while tracking watchdogs. I wasn't doing well and stumbled across him by accident."  
"Was it love at first sight?"  
"I mean I quaked him into a pile of junk then his head set on fire and he tried to take me out with a burning hot chain." The women paused for a moment, thinking back to those years ago. All the pain she was holding onto when she left. All the guilt. “He could have killed me though, I even asked him too.. But he didn’t”   
"So not really," Jemma laughed through the glass causing Daisy to smile. They both ignored the pain in the inhumans voice.   
"He intrigued me, nothing about him made sense,"

"You tend to get that with him being a serial killer and all that," Jemma interjected knowing her words were harsh but trying to understand her old friend. Daisy chose to ignore her remarks about the Father of her child.  
"Lets just say we both realised we had a common goal," Daisy said. "We were both in pain, both settling scores I guess,"  
"Romantic," Jemma nodded slowly, she wasn't convinced. It was hard to imagine the hacker she used to know, the woman who 10 years ago couldn’t fire a gun having a hit list.  
"Well not everyone can find a man willing to chase them to a distance planet or confess their love in the bottom of the ocean," 

The conversation relaxed almost instantly after that. Simmons subtly tracked Daisys vitals when she spoke about certain topics but it was easy to get swept up in the years of catching up they had to do. The inhuman was still weak, her skin was yet to lose the pale waxy coating it had and deep down Simmons wasn't sure whether her arms were even fixable.   
“I had better go,” Jemma looked down at her watch. “I am glad you're feeling a bit better. We will figure out a better solution,”   
“One that doesn’t involve gassing me when you need to change a dressing, I would appreciate it. What does AC think? That I’m going to hurt you or fitz. I am not dangerous,”   
Jemma just looked at her through the glass.   
“Not that dangerous!” She repeated. There was protest in the inhumans voice; a sense of helplessness that wept into the scientist's body as she listened.   
“It just protocol, not personal,”   
“It feels personal,”    
  


The days passed by slowly, as the pain started to fade the reality of Daisys situation started to hit her. The dark purple bruise that used to line her neck was no longer poking out the top of her oversized black t shirt, the cuts that once scattered her face were no longer sore to touch and had lost the redness, simply leaving small marks to remind her of what she had been through. But she still felt it all, the women couldn’t remember the last time she had moved without pain, without the aching of a muscle that she had pulled or an old wound resurfacing. It was something she always used to take for granted before SHIELD.   
  


"Bet you never thought you would be back on a shield base," Fitz said as he took Daisy's blood. He tried not to think about how she was handcuffed to the bed. He tried not to think about how weak the handcuffs looked, they both knew she could break through them even in the containment pod.  
"I kept my distance because it was what was best, I couldn't stop what I was doing. I lost myself and by the time I found it again I was knocked up and everyone had moved on. You guys all had lives then, safer lives because I was far away and long gone," Her voice trailed off as she tried not to finch at the sudden pain from having her blood drawn out of her battered arms.  
"No," He stopped her from saying anything else, "You left because something terrible happened and you didn't want our help getting through it," He looked up from the needle to someone he once considered a best friend.  
"How many agents have died since I left? How many friends have you lost?" 

Fitz's silence told her all she needed to know. 

"You don't think I missed this place, of course I did but I am not a good person Fitz." She said slowly looking away from the needle in her arm. "You only need to google me to figure that out," She continued.   
"We both know that's not true," He snapped back pulling the final needle from her and placing it in the container.   
"If I was a good person then I wouldn't be handcuffed to a bed in a containment pod,"  
"Good people do bad things all the time," He didn't look at her as he spoke, it was too hard for him. Daisy didn't want to tell him how many times people had used that to defend her, how many times someone had tried to convince her she was a good person after all this time. 

"I never did congratulate you on getting married,"   
"We are seriously doing this now,"  
"What am I meant to say Fitz, thank you for not letting me die. Thank you for not telling anyone when you saw me sneak out of your apartment 5 years ago!" Daisy was exhausted, "Thank you for taking my blood without sudadating me this time!"  
"I don't know," He snapped suddenly.   


"I nearly came back you know," She softened her voice and looked around it all felt femular to her hive recovery. "When Mace died and Coulson was put back in charge,"   
"Why didn't you?"

She didn't look at him as she thought about her answer. The truth, because she was scared, scared to look back at the mess she had left behind when she left. She didn't want anyone to have to live in her pain any longer.  
"I don't know," Her words came out as more of a whisper.   
"I always had your back Daisy. When you got your powers, I never thought of you as anything other than my friend but this person. This emotionless killer who still goes out doing god knows what while having a daughter tucked up in bed is not anything like my old friend." He didn't need to say anything else. Just those words were enough. 

He collected his medical supplies,

"Unhand cuff her once I'm out the room," He said to an armed guard as he knocked on the glass to unlock the room door. The scientist didn't look at the women he once knew as he left. He couldn't, he wanted too. He wanted to tell her that SHIELD would figure it out, as they always did. But he wasn't sure what there was to fix anymore. Since Daisy had returned hope his wife had barely slept, it was like the inhuman was missing all over again. Jemma was up at the crack of dawn checking vitals or looking into pain management options, staring at the x rays she had taken, reading and rereading notes to see if she had missed anything. Any clue that might help her friend recover or at least give her closure about Robbie.   
  
Daisy just lay there after that, trying not to think back to how it could have been. She had started counting objects around the room to waste the time, part of her wishing she was still drugged up and she could just sleep. That was easier than thinking. The days continued to pass. Bobbi had come back in several times as she started to recover to sneak in a good chocolate bar or bottle of pop. Coulson knew she was doing it, he would watch them interact on the monitors wishing it was him. Wishing he could go down and talk to her like the blonde agent did, as if everything was going to be okay. But he couldn’t, he didn’t want to lie to the daughter he never had, so instead he kept himself hidden focusing on everything and anything he could to avoid thinking about her. May had noticed it, not that she was one to comment. She hadn’t been and spoke to the girl either yet. She had been in when Daisy was drugged up or asleep just watched over her for a few fleeting moments.    
  


"Mom" a voice pulled Daisy up from her bed.  
"Jamie," she sat up slowly and looked at the glass where her daughter was standing.   
"Hello baby girl," Daisy continued smiling.  
"How are you?"   
"I miss you Mom," the girl said, putting her hand on the glass. Now the ex agent really felt like a caged animal.  
"Bank up those hugs for me," Daisy said slowly. It was a phase she often used if she returned from her night job too bruised to take an early morning hug.  
"Yo-Yo did my hair," the girl said, turning around for her Mom to see. Her hair was perfectly pulled into two neat braids.   
"Can I come in?" The young girl asked, causing Daisy to step back from the glass trying to find the sudden wave of sadness. This whitewashed room was her prison cell right now. It was keeping everyone safe from her. She wasn't daisy johnson to these people anymore so was Quake, the woman who took down buildings. 

When Daisy didn't answer the young girl looked back to the women in the door frame.

"May," Daisy said without thinking. Looking at the shadow of the women in the containment pod door.

May took a deep breath and took a step forward.

"Didn't think you wanted to see me," Daisy said, looking into the eyes of someone she hadn't seen in years.  
"Your daughter can be very persuasive," May said slowly.  
"Remember what we said outside. Your Mom is getting better but to do that we can't open the door," May said, turning to the child and getting down to the height of the 4 year old as she spoke. May couldn't help but feel protective of the girl she had learnt to love over the past 6 weeks.

The girl simply nodded before May picked up her so she could see more into the chamber.   
"Are you being good?" Daisy asked sitting in the chair next to the window.

The girl nodded.

"Mack and fitz are building me a flying car. And uncle Gabe was here for a while but he has gone now but Gma and Pops are looking after me until you get better." The girl spoke at 100 miles an hour. She couldn't contain her excitement of being able to talk to her Mom again. They had dropped by before but always timing it while Daisy was sedated or asleep, everyone knew that Daisy had a right to see her child but no one knew the right thing to do, there was no plan for this sort of situation. It was easier to explain to a 4 year old that a parent was resting rather than a parent was locked inside a box because she single handedly had the power to bring down the entire complex.

Gabe had spoken to her about Robbie, her father, and how he was up in heaven now keeping her safe from above. Trying to make it as painless as possible. Gabe wasn’t sure if there was a heaven or hell but he knew if there was his brother probably wouldn’t make it to the nice side. The girl was almost too young to understand it, and it made it easier. It worried Coulson how good a child could be with hiding emotion but it only took a look at Daisy's past to realise part of it must have been genetic. The girl was too young to have mastered a poke face yet she seemed to have one. 

"And Yo-Yo can perform magic," the girl added quickly at the end.  
"Good i'm glad your okay,"  
"Miss you Mommy, once your better we can go home right,"   
"I'm right here baby girl," Daisy lifted her hand slowly to the glass trying not to wince at the pain, knowing that she couldn't quake it even if she wanted to.   
The small girl put her hand up slowly to match her Moms.

Daisy let her child talk, trying not to show anything other than exectiment on her face. Hiding the pain and sadness that were starting to overwhelm her. She took herself back to the breathing methods May had taught her the best part of 10 years before.

The door opened softly again, Jemma who must have been watching the interaction from outside the door decided that the child needed to be taken out of the situation. 

"Jamie we need to let Gma talk to Mommy for a bit," Jemma said, scooping the child off May with a fake plastered smile across her face.   
"How about we go and make bubbles in the lab?"

The girl nodded a saddened smile.  
"And Mommy can't come can she?" The girl asked, hoping Simmons would give her a different answer. Daisy felt her heart begin to race and the monitor noticed it too.  
"Not this time baby," Daisy said before anyone else could say anything.   
"See you soon Mom," The girl waved one final time before placing her head on Simmons shoulder. Jemma couldn't help but feel like the bad guy. She wanted a happy ending, ever since she had met Daisy. Before she was even Daisy, everyone knew all the hacker wanted was a family. And now she had one and Simmons was pulling them apart.  
“You’ve got a good kid,” May said looking Daisy up and down as the door closed the scientist. She could hear Jamie starting to kick up a fuss outside but knew the noise wouldn’t get to Daisy.

"It's nice to see you up," May said once she heard the door click behind them,  
"Don't feel very up at the moment. My body is on fire," Daisy tried to speak like nothing had changed. Like they were back on the quinjet years ago.  
"You will get there," May spoke softly. 

Daisy looked down at the floor before retreating to her bed.  
"Daisy listen to me, your alive that's a miracle, fitzsimmons will tell you that,"  
"I don’t feel very alive i'm stuck in a box my arms in casts and attached to more wires than a science experiment,"   
"I know what you tried to do. Trying to distance yourself from everyone else so they don't drown in your wake, it doesn't work."   
"Everyone I love dies do you not get that!?" To say the ex agent was making progress would have been an obvious lie. She couldn't look anyone she used to love in the eye. She could close her eyes without seeing Robbie, without seeing the father of her child.   
"Calm down Daisy,"  
"Yeah telling me to calm down is known to make me feel better," she snapped back before letting the tears run down her face. They were all thinking it, all wondering how 5 years later the agent could still be so damaged.

Daisy looked away from the person she once considered a mother before she heard it. The sound of the door unlocking.  
"May what are you doing," Daisy looked up as her old SO came into contact with her.   
"You don't scare me Daisy, you never did," May sat next to the young women on the bed.  
"How can you even talk to me like that after everything," the ex-agent asked slowly.  
"Honestly I wasn't sure I could, I put it off since you got here. Because I am angry at you so angry. For one you left in the middle of the night after trying to kill yourself then you start going around with your own version of justice for so long the police are just used go hearing your names down their radios. Then to top it all off I find out you had a child."  


"I'm sorry,"  
"I never judged you," Melinda May said slowly, never raising her voice.   
"I know,"  
"But you should have came to find us when you found out you were pregnant,"  
"So what you could have arrested me and Robbie then put my newborn baby on the index!" Daisy suddenly snapped “Obviously not without making us sign the soviet accord first!”  
"No Daisy! So we could have been there for you!"

May paused for a moment grabbing Daisy's bruised hand and held it in her own. 

"I used to wait for a call that your body had been found or that the police shot you down during a raid."

Daisy didn't have anything else to say. 

"Your kid is special Daisy, but not because her parents are some powered people but because her Mom is Daisy Johnson. And I missed it," May said, pulling the women into her and holding her while she let out a panicked cry as she had done when she first received her powers all those years ago or when Lincoln died. The mother daughter duo seemed to hold each other in tears more often than they would have liked to admit.   
"Tell me about her?" May said, finally breaking the silence.   
"What?"  
"Tell me about Jamie,"  Daisy sat up a little bit trying to work out if Melinda really wanted to know. She wiped a tear from her face.

"She was born at 36 weeks," Daisy said slowly. "Carrying a child when your body is tuned to vibrations is harder than I thought." Daisy stopped for a moment, "not that i had ever thought about it, I knew a nurse through Lincoln and afterlife, she didn’t ask too many questions" she let out a small laugh hiding her exhaustion poorly. “There was not a hope in hell I would have been able to give birth, not if LA wanted to stay standing. We assumed we would just stop after Jamie was born, like it was going to be that simple. We would just give it up and try and put our lives back together. But stopping was just easier said than done.”

May let the younger women talk.   
She couldn't help but cut bits of the story out as she told it. May noticed but didn't comment. Daisy didn't want to relive some of the darkest moments.   
"I know you don't understand why I went off on my own, but the Watchdogs are not getting any weaker. It's been years and they are still hunting inhumans. The more of them dead the safer my daughter is."   
"Is she inhuman?" May asked  
"I don't know, I always assumed. I haven't put my toddler through terriginis," Daisy said sharply before softening her voice. "I would never do that," 

May nodded slowly.

"I never did ask my Mom about how inhuman genetics work. Robbie wasn't inhuman, not in the normal sense,"  
"Him selling his soul makes just as much as any other theory we had,"  
"Robbie wasn't a bad guy," Daisy couldn't help but say.

May didn't say anything.

"We met when we were both messed up,"  
"You do tend to do that with the people you date," May said her tone of voice didn't indicate what she was thinking. It didn't help but out Daisy on edge.  
"Robbie was a good guy," Daisy let her mind think back to when they first met each other. To the fight in the scrap yard. To when he let her live when she really didn't want to. At that moment the ghost rider accidentally saved her life. For a split second he reminded her that she wasn't the bad guy in the grand scheme of things.   
"If you say so,"  
"I'm being serious, no one died that didn't deserve it,"  
"When did you start making those decisions?"  
"When people that didn't deserve to die died in my presence." She looked out the window to the black pod where visitors normally stood. She couldn't help but see Lincoln's reflection in the glass, standing there next to Tripps.  Like a horror movie it played again and again in her mind as if somehow her brain was reminding her why she wasn't good for SHIELD. Daisy didn't share anything new with May, nothing May couldn't have found on her own with enough digging but it was nice to talk to someone else.

"How long am I going to be stuck in this box?"  
"Why did she have a gobag?" May asked matching the unanswerable question with one of her own.

Silence grew over the pair of women for what felt like a lifetime.

"We knew there were risks, Coulson had said it himself, he gave up a normal life for SHIELD.” She paused for a moment, knowing that May had lost so much more than Daisy could even imagine. May felt it too, a small punch in the gut a reminder off all the what ifs, of all the lives she could have had if she knew when to walk away, “I knew if anything happened to me, you would find her and keep her safe,"  
"How could you have possibly known that?"  
"Because your my family,"    



	5. Chapter 5

The days passed and the ex-agent turned felon continued to not see anyone she recognised. As the pain was mellowing her frustration wasn’t. 

"Can someone tell me something?" Quake was now banging on the window knowing it would set off the sensors in the lab. She had tried simply taking to the camera located not so subtly in the top corner of the room but wasn't having any luck. She stopped when the door slid open.  
"So this is what it takes for you to finally show your face," Daisy knew she shouldn't speak like that, she knew deep down this containment room was the best of her options. Not that it made it any easier. 

The man stood at her not saying anything. Just looking at the women he considered a daughter for so many years. It had been weeks since the women had arrived here and while most the bruises had faded, she still looked battered. Phil wanted to pull her in for a hug like he used to do when he ran out of words but he knew he couldn't. That now wasn't the time, he had to be more than her father. He had to be the director for a little while longer. 

"Thank you for not letting the military kill me off," she said slowly stepping back from the window calming down instantly.   
"Your welcome," Coulson remarked looking back down at his tablet in front of him.   
The silence was worse than him not coming down at all.  
"You going to say anything else?" She asked finally.  
"Nothing else to say, I'm just glad your safe," Daisy simply nodded, there was nothing else she could do, the man stood in front of her was the closest thing to family she had for a long time and now he couldn't even look her in the eye.  
"The watchdogs are-,"  
"The watchdogs took a hit from our raids but they are not the only threat," He cut Daisy off from saying anything else,   
"We have to put them on the back burner, we have more pressing threats on our hands," Phil said looking back down at his screen. He didn't want to tell her that they had been working on them for years, cutting them down. Hunting their sources aiming for the people at the top. But the Watchdogs had their hands in some very exclusive pots.  
"They're not gonna stop just because they think I'm-," Daisy didn’t know what the outside world knew about her, she hadn’t seen the news or even daylight since the bomb went off. She had no idea what the media was saying about her… She couldn't help but feel like that was a good thing.  
"We have other pressing issues on our hands, Shield is bigger than just hunting Watchdogs,"  
"Sorry, but for me, nothing is more pressing than -" She wasn’t able to finish her sentence.

"Look I know you like to work alone now, settling scores that are personal to you. But that's not how it works here at SHIELD. We work together to keep everyone safe," He looked back down at his tablet, watching the operations flood in and out. Daisy had seen on the news prior to it all how big SHIELD was now. It wasn't as large as when she first met the team but it was getting there. The work Mace did was important even if it was very politically correct compared to the old days. Daisy had never met the man and was sure they wouldn’t have gotten along in the slightest but the way he stood up for inhumans was refreshing in mainstream media even if he did push for the soviet accords. SHIELD was now back to recruiting the brightest minds all over the world, the minds that wanted to challenge themselves, push themselves out of the box. People that stood up for the underdogs, for the inhumans without question, without judgement. She had read the slogans, seen the adverts over the news. It wasn’t hidden anymore, no longer working the shadows.  
"Since when did you not do personal?" Daisy couldn’t help but mutter. It didn't always feel personal but if what they were saying about Robbie was true then she wanted to hunt every member of the watchdogs, hunt them down one by one and make them pay.   
"Since lives were lost over my revenge," He looked up, "Going after Ward, hydra, cost us so much, that was because I let it get personal. Not anymore, SHIELD is more than that now. We make sure of it," He looked down one final time before walking out.  
"You never answered my question!" She shouted banging on the glass slightly as the doors shut and she was alone once again. She knew that Coulson would be pissed but she expected something. Some reaction, something to remind her of the man she looked up too. 

As the door closed behind it he lent against it reminding himself of everything he had just told her, that he had to stop making things personal, that SHIELD was so much bigger than just him now. But he couldn't help but simply stand there eyes closed half hoping he would reopen them to a different reality, one where Daisy wasn't a bad guy, Where he could make her mac and cheese and talk about nothing while playing cards.   
  


* * *

_ Several days later  _

Daisy looked up to see Jemma and 2 armed guards in the pod attached to the containment room. 

"The guards are just protocol until you are secured."  
"Director's orders?" Daisy asked, hoping she would get more answers from Simmons than she had done when Fitz had entered previously.   
"Just icers," Jemma added more to make herself feel better than for the inhumans benefits.  Jemma waited for the men to handcuff Daisy's legs to the bed frame before entering the room properly. ‘It was for the best’ she had to keep telling herself, it was the only way to make it easier. It didn’t look for the best, watching people that she didn’t know Daisy cuff her to the bed didn’t put her at ease. It didn’t make her feel comfortable or safe, it made her wonder what it was all for. If it was all worth it. The only thing it stopped Daisy from doing was bolting out of the room or kicking a guard. Something Jemma couldn’t image her friend doing, even with all she now knew of the women.

The casts had been swapped for tighter metal gauntlets. According to Fitz they were like the ones she used to wear but this time she couldn't remove them. She didn't enjoy the look of wearing them again, when she saw herself it reminded her of who she could have been, but it was better than nothing. She hadn't missed feeling her powers compressed; she knew that almost instantly. Over the years she had gotten used to being able to sense the world around her, being able to feel silent footsteps or the water particles inside a kettle before it was even brought to a boil. The containment pod stopped her powers working, but she could still feel it all. With the gauntlets back on it felt like something was missing, like she had lost the ability to truly see the world around her. 

They had placed a metal band further up her arm, it matched the type she wore after she helped her ex all those years ago. Again this was tighter. She couldn't help but mutter disengage the bracelet hoping that it hadn't changed... it had. It was locked on. 

"Normal side effects I'm afraid," Simmons said, checking the Gauntlets over before looking at her friend who had started to look less like a patchwork doll as the days passed.    
The 2 armed guards next to her didn't make her feel any safer but they were the directors orders. They were the director's way of keeping his distance, of trying to stop it getting personal.   
"She's safe, you can uncuff her from the frame," She said sharply, turning to one of the guards. Who while he hesitated at first unlocked the chain from Quakes leg so she could stand up.

Quake stood up and instantly regretting the decision. She forgot that feeling faint was an obvious side effect of her latest fashion accessory. 

"How do they feel?"  
"Can't say I have missed this feeling,"  
"Look Daisy -”  
"I know, this is the director's rules in order for me to see Jamie. I get it. I really do but I am in a containment cell for one, and is the Internet tracker really necessary. I am still stuck in here, it's not like he's letting us go to the park!"   
Daisy looked around the room.   
"Well it's just," Jemma stuttered, not completing a full sentence.  
"Now I have full hand movement back, it's to stop me trying to rip up the floorboards to access the secondary control panel isn't it," Daisy asked, confirming her suspensions on the lack of trust the Director still had for her. While she wasn't sure the exact location she knew the room would have one somewhere, the design hadn’t changed much from when she had helped the scientists with the design all those years ago.  
"Your words not mine," Jemma smiled slightly nodding at the armed guard who had taken a step forward when the inhuman stood up.  


"They look good on you tremors," Mack said, breaking up the conversation between the old friends; he was holding Jamie who looked tiny against the large man. Yo-Yo was with him.  Mack let Jemma and the guard out of the room. Giving Jemma a solid grip on the shoulder to remind her this was all for the best even if none of them felt it.  
"They've got this guys” Jemma reminded the 2 men with guns to follow her completely out of the unit, Jamie was still too young to truly understand what was going on, everyone was grateful. They couldn’t help but worry what was going to happen as she started to get older. No one knew what the long term plan was, people assumed Coulson had one, they hoped he did. Something where Jamie wouldn't have to suffer like her Mom did in search for the answers she would deserve. No one would argue with the director about some of the awful things Daisy had done but the old team would hear constantly loud debate coming from his office with May pointing out that they had all done questionable things in their careers, they weren't all in a containment module with no access to their families.

Mack opened the sliding door and walked in with Jamie who's face lit up upon seeing her Mom in person.  She pulled her daughter in for a well overdue hug, glad that her body had healed enough for it not to hurt more than normal.

"I've missed you," Daisy said holding her daughter tightly.   
"I've been right here silly," Jamie replied, her voice exactly the sound Daisy needed to hear as the child pulled back a little and let her eyes wander around the space where her Mother had been living, the smile never leaving her face. May had told the girl that she needed to be brave for her Mom today, while she didn't understand what that meant, she knew enough.   
"Thanks for this," Daisy said looking up between Mack and Yo-Yo.  Yo-Yo had shut the door behind her husband. And was sat in the containment module looking into the white room. The couple had become rather protective of the 4 year old and it was the least they could do. Yo-Yo knew too well what it was like to lose parents at a young age, to not understand it all but to feel confused. She didn't want Jamie Mae to only hug her Mom while there were tall scary men with guns. That wasn't fair on Jamie.   
"Why don't you show your Mom what you have been drawing?" Mack asked looking down at the girl, taking the backpack off his shoulder and pulling out a notebook filled with brightly coloured doodles.   
  


The time couldn't help but go by fast, Mack and his wife couldn't believe the women they were seeing. Around her child she truly was back to being the Daisy Johnson they remembered before the death and heartbreak made her into someone she wasn't. There was no hardness in the ex-agents voice as she spoke to her child. It was soft, light, the woman was smiling. A smile Mack wasn’t sure he would ever get to see on his friend again. 

A knock on the exterior door brought them back to reality sooner than any of them wanted.  
"Times up Daisy," Yo-Yo said slowly, noticing May stood outside the door looking at her watch.  
Daisy looked up briefly before nodding. She told herself she would hold it together.  
"Jamie sweetie," Daisy said slowly, not sure how to finish the rest of the sentence. She was almost pleased when her ex partner started talking.  
"Jamie," He said, causing the girl to look between her Mom and Mack. "Your Mom needs to get some rest,"  
"We have to go," the girl said looking at her Mom. Her voice was starting to wobble. "I don't want to leave Mommy," she said, causing Daisy to shut her eyes in order to stop herself from crying.   
"It's okay," Daisy replied, pulling her child in towards her being careful with her gauntlets. "We can do this again soon," she added holding her child in her arms, something she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to do again,  
"When can we go home?" The child whimpered. All Daisy could think about was how much off a mess she was causing, she was putting her child through everything she wanted to avoid. 

Daisy sat her daughter onto her bed and got down to her eye level carefully wiping the tears from her daughter's cheek. She was now actively avoiding looking at Mack or Yo-Yo.   
"This is going to be our home for a while baby. These people are my family and are taking care of you while Mommy gets better," Daisy spoke slowly in the third person trying to make it easier, looking her daughter in the eyes trying to gauge what the poor girl's facial expressions could mean.  
"This isn't home," the girl pleaded, starting to get very upset and flustered.  
"For now,'' Daisy replied slowly in order to keep the shake from her voice, lifting her daughter's chin up and forcing a smile. "This place was my home for a very long time before I met your Dad and uncle Gabe. Now it's gets to be our home,” The women spoke softly. A tone neither of the shield agents had heard in a very long time. The harsh side of Daisy they had grown to accept was vanishing as her daughter cried.   
"You lived here? Her daughter asked. Truthfully Daisy actually didn't really know where they were, it was a SHIELD base, somewhere in the states was her best guess going by the majority accents she had heard alongside her basic guesswork after being told how long her daughter was on a plane for but still didn't know.

Daisy nodded slowly, smiling a closed mouth fake smile. 

"You need to keep being brave for Mom alright" She added talking about herself in 3rd person once again, like it somehow made it easier, pulling her daughter in for another hug. She doubted she had put Jamie's mind any more at ease than it was before she entered and she could feel the sobbing against her shoulder.  There was nothing she could do. She couldn't take her for ice cream or put on their favourite show. Robbie wasn’t around to put her on his back and run around the garden or build forts. The girl's pain was solely her fault, that was a new kind of guilt.    
"You remember when you were asking about my family?" Daisy asked her little girl trying to pull a little bit.

The girl nodded through the slow tears that were falling.

"Well this is my family. And they are going to keep you safe," Daisys pulled her daughter in close one more time. Reminding herself she needed to hold it together just until everyone was out of earshot. Just until she was alone. She kept her back to her old friends and she let her daughter cry.   
"I don't want to leave," The girl muttered as she held onto her mother tightly. She started sobbing into her mother's chest unceasingly, hands clutching at the shield issued tshirt daisy had been provided. Daisy held her in silence, not looking at anyone just holding her daughter trying to hold down the anger and the guilt that was starting to eat at her.   
"Come on Jamie we gotta go," Mack spoke softly trying to remove the force from his voice, "Fitz thinks he's got the car working," he added to try and not feel like the bad guy. Daisy stepped away from her crying daughter and let Mack take the girl.   
"Mommy," The girl kept repeating as Mack grabbed the now packed backpack and put it over his shoulder.  
"We can come back soon," Yo-Yo added calmly through the glass trying not to feel so helpless. She had been Jamie and it made it all the more difficult to watch. She also couldn't help but feel for the young Mom fighting back her tears. Her and Mack never wanted to be these people, they never want to do anything but help.

"Bank up those hugs for me," Daisy said sitting back on the bed as the doors opened hoping this would stop people coming in and handcuffing her while her child was present.

"See you soon tremors," Mack said, holding her daughter tightly as he cried into his shoulder. As she watched them leave she felt her knuckles turn white from clenching her fists too hard. Without thinking she turned around and swung the chair Mack had been sat on across the room, hitting the wall. While letting herself shout. There was something in the shout, a pain behind it. May watched through the camera in Coulson's office. She watched Daisy's eyes. Then she knew the anger was nothing but a guard for pain. The chair made more noise than she expected but Quake no longer cared. She couldn't help the anger. She swung for the wall, letting the metal from her gauntlets hit the white walls through the tears. By the time the tears had started to dry up she noticed the blood on her knuckles.    
  
The ex-agent couldn't help but feel the life she had built and was starting to unravel infront of her, everything hit her as she punched the wall, the threads of all the happy memories she had built since she left starting to become tainted by more death and disruption at her own hands. The pain in her daughter's voice, that was avoidable. 

"Are you done?" A voice echoed through the glass.  
She wiped the tears from her face looking down at her knuckles once again with a small sigh before sitting down on her bed facing the window once again,  
"Done with what?" Daisy snapped back not yet wiping the tears from her cheeks.  
"With whatever that display was," The woman replied, never raising her voice.  
"What do you want from me? I just had my child literally ripped from my arms by someone that used to be like a brother to me. Sorry if I'm not up for small talk right now,"  
"And punching the wall is the answer because,"  
"Because you're not known to punch things," Daisy's voice laced with pain as she looked at the women in front of her.  
"I channel my anger, I don't waste it on a tantrum" The woman never raised her voice but spoke calmly the way she always had done with Daisy.   
"Channel it where May? I am literally trapped inside a box in an underground base!"   
"Lets go," May commanded looking down and unlocking the door,  
"Go where exactly?" Daisy closed her eyes to stop any more tears flowing.   
"If you make a run for it, you will be shot." May continued speaking ignoring all the questions the ex-agent had. The inhuman looked pale and exhausted. May cuffed the women without saying anything else, not commenting on the now beaten up state of her daughters' knuckles. 

Daisy simply nodded.

The older agent grabbed Daisy by the belt loop and walked out the room silently. Daisy didn't recognise the hallway but it had the expected old SSR logo on the brick wall.  They didn't pass anyone she recognised, and if everyone recognised her they didn't say anything. May obviously still had her reputation of being terrifying Daisy thought to herself. The hallways were not as busy as the old bases, but Daisy was unaware that the part of base she was being held in was locked to 98% of agents.

"Clear the room," May announced as they walked into what appeared to be a gym space where Hunter and Bobbi were sparing on the mats. There was an agent on the treadmill that Daisy didn't recognise but they say anything as they got off the treadmill without making eye contact and scurried out.   
"Bobbi you stay," She added looking at Daisy as she spoke, the senior agent wasn't scared of Daisy but an extra pair of hands in case she attempted to break out of the gauntlets wouldn't hurt. May didn't want to have to ice Daisy or worse put a bullet in her leg but she would.   
"I know when I am not wanted," Hunter muttered, pulling Bobbi up from the floor and grabbing her a jumper from the side. Daisy kept her head looking at the floor avoiding looking at the handcuffs she was attached to.   
"Go and help fitz," Bobbi said before her Exhusband could open his mouth again. "And shut the door behind you," Bobbi added sensing that Daisy wasn’t meant to be here.  
"You sure about this?" Bobbi looked at May as the women passed Bobbi an Icer from her back.   
"She heads for the door you shoot," May replied harshly,  
"I am here you know," Daisy pointed out.  
"Then you know what's at stake," May unlocked the cuffs that were holding her gantlets together in front of her.  
"What are we doing?" The inhuman asked not acknowledging her old SO subtle threat.  
"A girly catch up," Bobbi smirked, knowing that in any other situation someone else would have laughed.

"You need to let it out, the control I taught you seems to have gone out of the window and I know for a fact Fitzsimmons aren't going to appreciate a blood stain in there containment room so here we are,"  
"You have no idea what I am holding in," Daisy muttered deciding not to turn down an opportunity to leave the room she had been confined to.  
"Lets go," May stated facing the young women while Bobbi leant against the wall, not lowering the icer even though every particle of her being was telling her Daisy wouldn't run. She did notice Daisy scanning the room, looking at all the entrance points, all the possible ways out but didn't seem to act on it. They all knew if Daisy wanted out she would figure out how to get there.

"You? You want me to fight you?" In that frozen second between standoff and fighting Bobbi's eyes flicked between the two women in front of her, for a second it felt like a flashback, from before it all got some complicated.   
"No I want to be flying a quinjet in silence but here we are," May said before aiming a quick Jab at the inhuman. Daisy's reactions weren't as good as when she left but the inhuman gave it as good as she could, but it didn't take long before May had her pinned.  
"You have become too reliant on your powers," May snapped while holding the agent against the black SHIELD logoed matts. Daisy flipped her old SO over and just for a second her mind went back to years ago, to the bus where Ward would hold the punching bag for her or May would teach her martial arts in silence, normally before sunrise. She couldn't help but let her mind wander back to fighting Lincoln, to turning him into a soldier.  
"They weren't what made you an agent," May took another swing pulling herself into a stand position as she spoke.  
"I did," she pushed Daisy back before aiming a sharp kick at the young woman's gut, which Daisy narrowly avoided.  
"Now stop holding back, talk to me,"   
"and say what!" Daisy had stopped now pulling herself into a closed off position. "That I am pissed and tired and scared! All those things you already know! My every move is being watch for fuck sake! I just had my own daughter pulled from me because I am a criminal." There was anger and pain in the womens voice but the tears were making it well, Daisy looked around the room more one time trying and failing to calm herself down before continuing "Yet another guy I love has died and I am stuck god knows where!" May looked briefly at Bobbi who decided not to say anything.

"Use your emotions," May said calmly, angling the women towards the punching bag. Bobbi had lowered the icer slightly and was now sitting on the ledge.   
"Use them for what? I am literally a prisoner with people I used to consider family!" She swung for the bag, her arms hurting almost instantly. If her face was showing pain no one mentioned it.  
"We are your family Daisy, do you not get that?"  
"I don't really think family keeps someone trapped in a room for months at a time," Daisy said in between punching the bag on display.

"And I didn't think family just walked away when things got tough!" May had finally snapped. Her harsh tone took everyone by surprise.   
“Our one to talk,”  
"You left Daisy! You left and broke the law." May quieted down as she continued.  
"You made that choice. You made the choice to continue to break the law long after your daughter was born. You made that choice. The situation you are currently in is because of your choices,"  
"I made the best of an impossible situation, I picked the best choice I could," she said, punching the bag once more, her arms now shaking a little, if the bag wasn’t black she was sure her blood would now be showing.  
"No Daisy you made selfish stupid choices and now we are picking up your pieces again!" Daisy wasn’t sure she had even heard May with such tone in her voice, long gone were the days where the agent would speak in one word answers without eye contact.    
"May stop!" Bobbi cut in, looking subtly at the state of Daisy's arms. She was now visibly shaking under the gauntlets with the silver metal now displaying the crimson of the inhumans blood.  
"She needs to hear this," May turned to bobbi who decided against arguing with May while she was talking like that.  
"You made stupid choices Daisy! You were not thinking about your Daughter when you went out and killed people! When you and Robbie left her to go and get revenge, or closure, or vengeance or whatever BS you want to call it now. You were selfish and childish!"

"May," Bobbi said again slowly before a death stare shut her up once again.  
"If we didn't care, if we walked away from you like you did to us, you would be rotting in a military jail or worse in the ground. In some unmarked grave. Your Daughter wouldn't have any idea what had happened to her Mom. You would have just left one night and never returned. We do care about you Daisy, you have put us in a no win situation yet we are still here!" 

Daisy looked down at the floor not having it in her to look at the women who trained her, helped shape her into the person, the mother she was.

"Coulson is fighting to keep you in our custody, to avoid another press release, to stop the identity of you or the ghostrider going to the press." May paused for a moment, "To stop your daughter having the same childhood you did because you know what children with SHIELD in there file go through, how often they get moved, how little they know!"  
"I never asked for that," Daisy yelled back, trying not to picture her daughter having to go through half of what she went through. Melinda knew it was a low blow, she knew that they would never let Jamie go into foster care to be bounced around but she needed to get Daisy to understand what they were doing for her.   
"You never had to," Bobbi replied softly, taking the words out of her fellow agent's mouth.  
"Handcuff her and get her back to the pod. Then call Simmons, something not right with her Gauntlets," May commanded, looking at Bobbi before picking her jacket up and walking out of the room. 

Bobbi did what she was asked in silence, snapping the handcuffs back on Daisy before walking her tightly back to the room she was being kept. The hallway seemed darker on the journey back and Daisy was almost dreading to see what mark she had left on the wall.   
"Wearing your wedding ring around your neck is a nice touch," Daisy observed, trying to keep herself calm. She wanted to run, just to find her daughter to hug her tightly again and promise that she would fix it. That they would be okay again.   
Bobbi let herself laugh a little before speaking,  
"We don't do marriage very well," the agent replied calmly, still holding Daisy tightly as they walked.   
"But he isn't calling you a hell beast this divorce so that's a win,"  
"I guess so," Bobbi muttered wishing they could have been having this conversation like old friends over a pint rather than while they were walking back to a cell.   
"I'm glad you’ve got him,"   
"I don't think we are good together, but then again we aren't good for anyone else so,"

Bobbi unlocked the door using her lanyard and they stepped into the pod. Bobbi unlocked the second door slowly before releasing Daisy from her grasp.  
"I told them all white was not a good idea,'' Bobbi tried to keep the mood light, tried to pretend that she wasn't about to unhandcuff someone she would always consider a friend.    
In their line of work she learnt pretty early on that the line between friend and foe was a thin one. She had friends that weren't on the same side and enemies that were. 

"I'm going to get Simmons, she needs to take a look at your hands," Bobbi said looking around the room. It was strange how it almost felt like Daisy's place, the way her SHIELD issued clothes were scattered like they used to be in the bunks, even the way she stacked her lunch tray up on the side took her back to a simpler time.  
The shaking had stopped now but Bobbi could tell that Daisy was in pain.   
"Don't," Daisy said slowly, "I will be fine,"   
"It's Mays orders, I am really not going to get on her bad side today or I might end up in the module next door," Bobbi undid the handcuffs not thinking about how many protocols she and May had broken in the last 45 minutes alone.   
"Sit there until I am out of the door,"

Daisy nodded before watching Bobbi walk away. She had run out of tears left to cry but it didn't stop her from thinking about what her SO had told her, about what Coulson was doing for her even now. Daisy hadn't given her being stuck here much thought. She knew it was SHIELD but she had no idea what Coulson had been doing to keep her here. she hadn't let herself think of it.   
"Jemma I need you to -" Bobbi stopped dead in her tracks when she realised that the scientist wasn't in the small lab she could normally be found in but instead sat Jamie in oversize goggles looking at a liquid over a bunsen burner.   
"Do I want to know what you are doing?" The agent tried to act calm knowing how tough the day must have been on Jamie.  
"We are making bubbles," Fitz remarked like it was obvious from his current set up.  
"We are going to make big bubbles," The small child said looking at Bobbi using her hands to mimic something getting larger.  
"Have you seen Simmons?" Bobbi asked, knowing that Daisy really needed to be seen in case she did anymore harm to herself while left.   
"She's in the other lab, she had to do some," Fitz covered the small girls ears which made her laugh, before mouthing ''weapons testing," He finished his sentence, "Is everything okay?"   
"Yeah, yeah just need her," Bobbi knew she didn’t sound as convincing as she hoped, the agent turned around quickly before she got roped into whatever concoction Fitz was making, she was unsure why they could use dish soap but had learnt not to question the engineers methods.

The agent power walked through the halls, ignoring and not making eye contact with anyone she passed. As she exited the secure part of the base heading towards the main lap she heard arguing coming from the director's office. 

\---

"We are between a rock and a hard place," Phil said looking at Melinda before putting his head in his hands.  
"We can't keep her in that containment room forever Phil,"  
"Well what do you suggest!" He burst slamming his hands on his old wooden desk, it wasn't a question but an angry statement. Melinda wasn't sure the last time she had witnessed him this angry.   
"There has to be a better solution,"  
"Do you not think I have weighed up every possible solution. Looked at every possible favour I could pull, every lie I could try and tell. Either way do you know who always suffers? Jamie. In every situation she loses and she has already lost more than any child needed to," Phil said the anger and frustration intertwined with the sadness in his voice. He couldn't help but make it personal. "I don't even want to think how many organisations have a cell with her name on it, if we announce she is up and about the military defence division will be in my office before I could even get a coffee. There isn't a good option."  
"It's Daisy," Melinda reminded him, her tone not changing.  
"We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was anyone else," He said sitting back down looking at the dent his prosthetic hand had made in his desk.

\---

"Doctor Simmons," Bobbi almost shouted over the hustle and bustle of the main lab, Jemma was standing at a machine the field agent hadn't seen before and while she did have a degree in biology couldn't work out what it was meant to do.  
"Bobbi," The agent jumped.  
"I need you," Bobbi took the women's hand before anyone else in the lab could grab their attention ,"And we will need a first-aid kit," Bobbi lowered her voice as Simmons picked one up looking more confused than ever.  
"Do I want to know what's going on?" Jemma asked when she knew they were out of ear shot.  
"Daisy," Was all Agent Morse needed to say to cause Jemma's speed to increase,  
"Is she okay? What's happened?"  
"She punched things." The horrified look on Jemma's face caused Bobbi to continue ,"With Mays approval.” Bobbi felt the need to add, “anyway her hands don't look good and your -"  
"The only one with the knowledge to help," Jemma completed the sentence  
"I was going to say the only one May trusts to help but sure," The blonde woman smirked glad that Simmons hadn't lost herself too much in the promotions and the experience. 

The women paused for a moment looking at the screen outside the room. Daisy hadn't moved from where Bobbi left her. 

"Should we not cuff her?" Jemma asked  
"I mean we just had her down in the gym so-"  
"I don't do this! I follow the rules," Jemma muttered to herself before Bobbi opened the first door. Daisy looked up at the two women but couldn't bring herself to smile.  
"Let's have a look at your hands shall we," Jemma said smiling a little trying to ignore all the rules the director had put in place in regards to Daisys care. One of which was not to enter the room while she was awake if she wasn't secure or you weren't with the armed guards.   
"Honestly Jemma they are fine," Daisy spoke, not moving from the bed as the second door opened. Bobbi led Jemma in but refrained from speaking. 

Jemma knelt down to look at her friends hands. They were battered, the bleeding had stopped but Jemma noticed the subtle shaking. 

"I'm going to have to take the Gauntlets off," Jemma was talking to Bobbi, looking for some confirmation that she was doing the right thing.  
"You can cuff me," Daisy butted in. "I know that's what your worried about,"  
"It's not that,"  
"I would rather be cuffed than gassed," The ex-agent added in all seriousness.

"It's fine Daisy," Bobbi remarked before Simmons could even think about cuffing Daisy.  Simmons pulled a small key from her belt and unlocked the rim of the metal strapped around the inhumans arm, they loosened slightly giving Jemma the ability to slide them off slowly. 

Daisy let out a large sigh of relief when the gauntlets came off. The relief of not being trapped behind the metal was overwhelming even if the pain in her arms was not fading.

"Have you tried to use your powers while wearing these?" Simmons asked.  
"No, I let out my frustration the old way," 

Simmons simply nodded before taking off the other hand. Her knuckles were starting to turn purple, the twisted abstract pattern of the internal working of her arm splints indented into her forearms. The blood had formed a hard layer in the cracks of her knuckles, Jemma couldn't help but wonder how hard the women must have been punching. 

"Looks like you have rebroken your barely fixed wrist on the right and the left looks like we might have to put a pin in it. Need another set of X-rays," Simmons looked at Bobbi to avoid showing her worry to Daisy. If she had done this much damage using just her fists Jemma didn't want to know how much internal damage using her powers would cause right now.  
"I need a bowl of warm water and a towel to clean off the blood,"  
"It's fine," Daisy cut in, the girls ignored her and continued to talk as if she wasn't there. 

Bobbi walked into the small bathroom attached to the containment room. There was a small plastic cup next to the sink which she filled with warm water grabbing the folded up flannel.

"This will have to do," Bobbi put the cup next to Jemma who slowly started to clean the knuckles. Daisy gritted her teeth and let out short sharp breaths every so often as the water seeped into the wounds.  Jemma opened the small first aid kit she picked up from the main lab upon opening it she regretted not picking up the larger kit.

"Going to disinfect the knuckles then I will have to put the Gauntlets on while we figure out a way to get you to the xray,"  
"I'm going to be sedated aren't I,"  
"Daisy," Bobbi cut in knowing that Jemma was already beating herself up about how she had to treat their old friend.  
"Need to move into a med-pod," Simmon turned to the fellow agent. "Arms need scanning. Probably best to put the pain management drip back in until we can access full damage."

"Whats going on?" Coulsons voiced caused Doctor Simmons to grimace before turning to face the director.  
"I'm fine," Daisy protested knowing how many rules her friends must have broken today.  
"Sir we need to get Daisys arms scanned and placed into secure splints," Jemma took off her gloves avoiding eye contact with everyone as she spoke.

He nodded.

"I can strap it up here then move her down to the med-bay,"  
"You know what you need to do Agent Simmons," He said, not looking at the injured women on the bed, her arms were still shaking and they all knew if it wasn't for the containment room the building would be shaking alongside her.  
"We don't need to-" Bobbi started talking but got shut off.  
"Don't you think you have caused enough problems today," The director cut her off before she could continue talking,  
"Sir -"  
"That's enough Agent Morse," As the voices started to get louder Daisy couldn't help but look for a way out. A way to keep herself calm, to keep everyone safe.

She saw Bobbi's gun tucked into the back of her pants and before anyone could say anything the ex-agent had grabbed it, it was second nature to her now. Bobbi had barely turned before it went off, the inhuman shot herself in the stomach, she didn't even flinch as it fired. She knew what she was doing now: it wasn't the first time the ex-agent had shot herself to protect others. The sound of the night-night pistol firing was distinctive and hollow in sound. As the cooling effects of the icer spread through her body she collapsed onto the bed, causing the voices to stop. She looked almost peaceful laying there suddenly taking on a pale look, as if she'd been painted with white-wash, the blue liquid starting to show up her neck as Jemma screamed.

"Daisy!" 

Bobbi knew instantly why the women had done it but it didn’t make moving her limb body any easier, they had pulled Mack out of Ops to move her into a pod then moved the agent to a med-bay. Once she had stabilized and Simmons had checked her over. Both the women knew what was coming.

  
"You both defied my basic instructions!" Coulson didn't like losing his temper in the hallway.  
"We acted appropriately in the situation." Simmons tried to keep calm, then all painfully aware how badly she lied under pressure.  
"She is not a danger to us,"   
"We don't know who is she anymore,"  
"Yes we do sir, she just shot herself to stop us arguing, to stop us having to make another impossible decision! We know who she is Coulson, and I think that's the problem,"  
"What are you saying Agent Morse?"  
"You wanted her to be completely different so you can pretend you don’t know her. But, she's not! She's still the girl you knew. She's scared and alone and hurting." Bobbi spoke firmly making sure her words were clear. The director had forgotten how similar the women he loved and the blonde agent could be in the impossible situations. Their ability to keep calm and rational wasn't something they learnt, it was a skill the pair just seemed to have. “I wasn’t here when she left, I get that I don’t fully understand what she went through, what any of you went through but the director I remember always believed in second chances, always believed in fair. Look at deathlock for a start. Look at the damage he caused people, the destruction he left, and yet he is now an agent, with a badge and gun,”

Coulson listened to his agent not sure what he was meant to say.  
  
"It's not like she went wandering around the base," Simmons added, unaware that Daisy had spent the best part of an hour fighting agent May in the gym.  
"She's been locked up for 8 weeks,' Bobbi felt the need to add. “She has hugged her daughter once in 2 months,”

The blonde could sense the up and coming silence so continued talking.

"Have you actually spoken to her? Just once had a proper conversation with her! I'm not defending any of her actions, but I'm not sure how much longer I can stick around if this is your version of justice," Bobbi noticed May heading towards them before turning and walking away. Her and Daisy were never particularly close but after the collapse of SHIELD and everything that happened in Russia her morals and values had been confirmed and tightened. Agent Morse truly believed in SHIELD, in the values they held up, preached and ingrained in people. Her marriage had suffered more than once because of it, but watching Agent Johnson suffer didn't feel like SHIELD. It didn't feel like she was standing up for the little guy, saving or protecting the world, she felt like she was hurting her friend. 

"I need to make sure she is stable before we move her back to the module," Simmons bowed her head and went to check on Daisy who was unconscious in the med-bay. Everyone had heard the gun go off, while it wasn't uncommon to hear gun fire. It wasn't common to hear it from the containment units in the hidden underground part of the facility. They both left the Director alone in the hallway.   
  


"I heard about what Daisy did," Hunter said, bumping into Bobbi in the hallway before he pulled his ex-wife into his arms and held her, she didn't move for a second just let him. He knew instantly it was worse than he had initially assumed.   
"I wish it was all different,"   
"I know," He kissed her slowly in the way he could only get away with when her mind was somewhere else.  
"You didn't see her Hunter, she shot herself. Without thinking, without any prompting. Took my gun and shot herself."  
"It was an icer," He assured her.  
"I'm not sure she even knew," Bobbi admitted quietly.   
"But she's safe now, Simmons has patched up her arms again and I have just seen Fitz actually run down the hall carrying a box of crap."   
"Is she actually safe though? We have her locked up at all times. I watched the video of her with Mack and Jamie. How is that fair on anyone?"  
"Sometimes the only choice we have are bad ones,"   
"Stop using my words against me," She looked at him and broke into a small smile.  
"Then stop saying wise things,"  
"Did you just compliment me," 

He hit her in the arm playfully and wiped the dripping tears off her face.  
"Can we go and punch things now," She shook off her tears and looked ahead  
"Not quite but you can go and trash a 4 year old at Mario kart if you want,"   
She rolled her eyes but walked arm in arm with her ex-husband. Trying to hold herself together. 


	6. Chapter 6

The beeping of the equipment was playing in the senior agents head like a broken record, even when she wasn't in the room she heard it. The constant reminder that Daisy was once again unconscious but living, the sound never fading or getting stronger just sitting in the back of her mind. It was a constant reminder that the woman she considered family was once again hooked up to machines. 

"You really need to stop shooting yourself," a familiar voice said as the inhumans distorted view slowly came back into focus.  
"People need to stop risking their lives for me," She muttered back.  
"I'm being serious,"   
"There wasn't another way," Her voice was slow and pained  
"There is always another way," May replied, putting her hand on top of Quakes and leaving it there for just long enough to prove her point, to prove that every word she meant was true. That Daisy was not alone, no matter how alone she felt.  
"How long was I out?"  
"3 days," May replied again removing her hand and looking up and one of the machines, "Simmons had to put metal in your arm to help with the break but you should be good to go in time,"  
"Healthy enough to go back to my cell you mean,"  
"containm-"  
"containment module I know," Daisy smirked weakly as she spoke, but did bring herself to smile at the older women.

That night May slept for the first time since Daisy had gone back into the Med-bay, it was broken sleep but it was in her own bunk at least. Coulson considered that an improvement all the same. Neither of them had been back to their off base house since the arrest and containment of Quake. Even though everyone was painfully aware that Coulson was distancing himself from the ex-agent, something about the older couple leaving her while they went back to their life away from SHIELD felt wrong, May knew neither of them would be able to relax while in their normal neighbourhood, especially while their daughter lay cuffed in a med-bay.

This recovery was quicker than the last one, she was barely awake 24 hours before Quake was moved into her old containment module, it upset her how much the small room felt like home. She avoided asking about Jamie, she wanted to know of course she did, but it hurt the women to hear stories of everyone being a better mother to her child than she was. That she was no longer the woman braiding her hair or cooking her tea. Daisy knew she stopped having the right to be Mom when she killed people but while living away from SHIELD with Robbie, in her little bubble she could play pretend.

\---

"Quake is an outlaw,"  
"Quake is an outlaw who takes down banks and bridges,” May confirmed, feeling like they were going round in circles.    
“Daisy Johnson is a of SHn agentIELD," she then countered, causing the rest of Coulson's sentence to dissolve almost instantly, she was right. Daisy Johnson is an agent of shield. Always. He remembered the chances he had given other people, other people who did bad things. Why would this be any different? They had been having the same debate since she had arrived but with her recent events and another stay in med-bay it was getting louder and less passive aggressive. If you had asked either of them when Daisy first left if the argument would be this way round they would have both laughed but Coulson had mastered the art of pushing it to be the back of his mind. Of doing what Fury told him to do with Daisy when she first entered the bus; to be careful.

It had been 3 weeks since the icer incident and Daisy was now in a routine. It wasn't a routine that she liked, but it was something. Jamie came down once a week with either May or Mack and Yo-Yo. Simmons would come in at least one evening to gossip about Agents that Daisy had never even heard of, mainly scientists who were many levels of incompetence according to the women with 2 PHDS. Bobbi would come in on her own sometimes, or drag Hunter others and they would exchange stories about their times away from Shield. Fitz had barely appeared twice and Coulson wasn’t even mentioned anymore, Daisy used to ask normally subtly but not anymore. Jamie would sometimes tell stories that involved the director but no one else. Daisy would swear she would see his shadow sometimes when she was lying eyes closed but she hadn’t spoken to him. Yo-Yo had started popping her head in to ask for advice or talk about an new inhuman they had located. They both knew Coulson wouldn't allow it but it was nice to have someone else to bounce ideas off and it made Daisy feel useful.    
  
Coulson had stood outside the room most days, debating on what his opener should be, on what he could say. On how he could talk to the women he considered his daughter but everytime he would walk away without saying anything at all. Daisy no longer hoped he would pop his head in or even enter at all. She hadn’t seen him since she had iced herself. Even after all this time Daisy trusted him and his methods, if he wasn’t coming in she knew he must have a reason; she just didn’t know that it was because he felt guilty.    


While the inhuman wished she wasn't trapped underground she appreciated the now constant company. She knew that they were doing what was best for her, picking the best of a bad situation. She wished her and Jamie were back in their home baking cakes and waiting for Robbie to come home from work or facetiming Gabe but as a punishment she knew it could be so much worse, she had sent people to worse when she was a SHIELD agent. She had killed people with a lower body count than hers and that's what she had to keep reminding herself. It could be so much worse. She had heard from the others that Coulson was brilliant with Jamie, would talk to her all the time and was the first one up with her in the morning, he had even let Jamie sit in Lola but wasn't impressed when she said she preferred her Dad's car.    


Even if Coulson didn't want to see her she was glad he didn't shut her daughter out. Gabe had been in once but Mack had said the college student was trying to talk to Jamie regularly but it was hard, Daisy knew what hard meant. It meant that Gabe was coping with the loss of his brother. The fact everything he knew had been ripped apart but there was no body, no grand funeral. Nothing. He had to pretend everything was fine until they knew more. Gabe was holding onto the same hope as Daisy, that Robbie was unkillable. 

* * *

"Daisy," The director's voice echoed through the module as she was reading.  
"Director," She curled her legs round off the bed and faced him.    
"I need your help with something," He said, putting the tablet up to the screen showing a long chain of code that he clearly didn't understand.  
"What is it?"  
"We need to gain access to place 2 undercover agents on a guest list, our guys have tried and can't crack it. The options they are talking about are going to take weeks. We don't have that sort of time," He said looking back at her pulling the tablet off the glass. “The event is tonight,”   
"And why do you think I can do it?" 

He raised an eyebrow. "The code used is something taken from a script often used by the riding tide,"

"Of course it is,"  
"I wouldn't ask if-"  
"I know if there was anyone else,"   
"I know you don't need to hear this from me but I need you to be agent Daisy Johnson for a moment and help us figure it out." 

She nodded slowly

"No handcuffs," Daisy demanded, suddenly realising she could play this situation for her advantage.  
"What?"  
"No handcuffs.” She repeated, “If you actually want me to play pretend and be Agent Daisy Johnson, to help you then you need to trust that I won't run or Quake the building down," She was sounding harsh but she would do it with handcuffs on, she wanted to help even now.  
"The gauntlets stay," He compromised.   
The ex-agent nodded briefly knowing that they were helping her body repair; it also meant she didn’t have to see the marks up her arms.

"And I get to see my daughter outside this room,"  
"Daisy," He said  
"Just one dinner, sat round a normal table with my kid. Something I haven't done in months. Then you can lock me back up like a caged animals and go back to pretending I don't exist,"

While the director stood in silence, he was taking back, obviously she assumed he was ignoring her. He wanted to kick himself, to go back and just come in once a week. He hadn’t forgotten her, and the last thing he was doing was pretending she didn’t exist. Daisy unaware what was currently going around the director's mind let out a small brief smile before pulling her face back into a resting glance, he was clearly thinking about it, but when she heard the second door unlock she smiled a little bit longer. 

"This way Agent Johnson," He said, still holding her by the belt loop as they walked but it felt good letting her out. Talking to her like they used to even just for a quick second.  
"Lead the way AC,"  
"Nice try, next to me at all times,"

She smiled a little trying to let herself relax. She hadn't walked around the base before, hadn't seen anywhere but the med-bay and the gym.  She noticed a glass door with a sign 'JAMIE'S CLASSROOM' She stopped for a moment and looked at it. Coulson let her, knowing that they would pass it. 

"You didn't think we would let her miss out of education did you. Some of the smartest people in the world access this base." Even the director had started to relax. They didn't pass anyone in the hall, Daisy had guessed he had blocked it off but it was nice to walk somewhere not in chains. “Don’t worry no one who talks to her even knows who she is, she had more NDAs attached to her than an 0-8-4, and the cavalry which helps with the fear factor,” He smiled a little. There was pride when he spoke about Jamie, the same tone as when he used to speak about Daisy. They both pretended they hadn’t heard it.  
"I never-" Daisy started to speak but stopped herself, she doesn't know why she was surprised. Her team would never let a child suffer, never mind her child. They would never let her get caught up in the adult world. Daisy wasn't even sure what lies had been told to her child about her state but she was grateful for every single one of them. The longer her daughter could hold onto the innocence smile the better.   
"Welcome to communications lab Alpha Bravo 6," Coulson said, opening the door. It was not much bigger than the centre on the bus but it looked newer. It was empty, again she suspected that wasn't normal. Daisy had no idea how much of the base had been cornered off for Jamie’s sake. Daisy’s location was classified to anyone below a level 7 and Jamie's existence was strictly needed to know.    
"Your inhibitor will prevent you from doing anything but this, do you understand," He looked at her in the eyes.

"This isn't the first time I have worn one of these. I know the drill." Shaking her arm a little, trying not to wince as the metal from her gauntlets hit a bruise.   
"You also know how to bypass one of those, so sorry if I don't trust your word," His words hurt her but she couldn't argue with them.  
"Wow this is a lot of encryption for an invite list," She observed looking at the screens in front of her.  
"You have 3 hours,"  
"I was expecting 2," she muttered before sitting down. He walked out the room, but she knew even now she wasn't alone. She had counted the camera as she walked in. There were a dozen down the stretch of hallway they had walked down, 2 in the stairwell and at least 4 obvious ones in the current room she was in. There were 3 doorways, not that she knew where 2 of them led. One large window with stained glass that she didn't dare look out of. She didn't want to see the outside world, it would only make going back into her box harder.

\---

"What are you doing?" May asked the man she loved as he watched Daisy work from his office.  
"Trusting my gut," he said, pulling May in closer.  
"You were right, Daisy Johnson is an agent of SHIELD. She has and always will be an asset,"   
"You've missed watching her work haven't you,"  
He just smiled.   
"Your allowed to want this," She said slowly, "You allowed to want watch Daisy somewhere that isn't that module,"  
"It's not about what I want, I wanted Daisy back on base because she wanted to be here, because she wanted to help, to be an agent again. But she didn't want any of this. I can't force her to want this."  
"Have you asked her what she wants?"  
"She wants her daughter back in her arms and her boyfriend back from the dead. She wants to go back to her comfy little house and move on from SHIELD. But she can't have that, we can't be those people that release Quake back into the world,"  
"We aren't releasing Quake back into the world, we are giving Daisy Johnson a second chance. The same chance you have given to so many others. Face it Phil. She was a damn good agent and she’s a damn good mother. Don't take that away from her,"

Daisy was now a constant argument between the couple, neither one of them were sure they were right but both parties constantly debated it hoping that between their arguments a good outcome would reveal itself. Both of them harboured guilt for what Daisy had become whether they admitted it or not. They knew that Daisy didn’t blame either of them for anything that had happened to her, she just blamed herself and somehow they felt worse to them.

\---

"Nice to see you out of shackles," Hunter said leaning in the doorway,  
"Not quite," Daisy lifted her arms up from the keyboard showing her gauntlets and her internet blocker.  
"It’s a start though," He said, putting a can of cactus cooler next to the working women.  
"From Bobbi," He smiled "Just don't tell her,"

Daisy let herself smile before opening the can and taking a large gulp, she had missed it. She used to make Robbie buy it in excessive amounts when they found it in a shop. It wasn’t that Daisy particularly loved it and everyone else in there household hated it, it was that it somehow felt like home.

"So how does it feel?"  
"How does what feel?"  
"Being out and about, back in the big wide world,"  
"I was escorted from my cell to another room, in an disclosed location where I get to sit for 2 hours hacking a code that I created and sold 3 years ago only to be escorted back to my cell” she paused for a moment, there was a softness in her voice but Hunter didn’t miss the hidden pain, “this isn't the big wide world I remember,"  
"You created the unhackable code,” He actually laughed a little in disbelief as he spoke, “Does Coulson know?"  
"You think I would be sitting here if he did," 

Hunter couldn't help but let out an audible laugh, he had forgotten how well Daisy could play the system, it was a trait she had passed down to her daughter whether she meant to or not. 

"I thought you were one of those idealist hackers not a sell to the highest bidder type,"  
"I didn't sell to the highest bidder, nor did I hack it.” She couldn’t help but protest, some of the work she had done was against her old morels but so was SHIELD, ”They needed someone to produce an firewall and antivirus system with no obvious backdoor running off an independent server so that's what I did,"   
"Okay I understood next to none of the words you just said,"   
"The good news is, I know how to get people onto the guest list."  
"Why am I sensing the bad news?"  
"Its GPS linked,"   
"What is it with you and GPS linked code!" He rolled his eyes playfully. 

She shrugged looking down and the code in front of her. She knew as soon as she saw it through the window that she wouldn't be able to solve it from the base. But she also knew it was her only thing to bargain with.   
"How long are you going to chill in here until you tell the boss the news?"  
"Oh I'm milking this," Daisy put her legs up on the table and closed her eyes for a brief second just taking in the small freedom she had now been given.

"Fitz what happened mate?" Hunter said, making Daisy aware that other people had entered the room. Fitz was walking with Yo-Yo not even noticing anyone's presence at first.  
"Someone taught there 4 year old self defence!" He said lifting the bag of ice from his eye.   
"Sorry for preparing her," Daisy shot back without thinking; making eye contact with the man.   
"A little bit of warning would have been nice, oh just as a heads up my 4 year old has ninja training!"   
"I think this is the most you have said to me since I got here, so sorry it didn't come up!" Daisy snapped putting her legs off the table and staring back at the screen in-front of her. She would have walked off if she had anywhere to go; the window was suddenly looking tempting. If Jamie wasn’t here she probably would have chanced it.

Yo-yo placed her hand in front of Fitzs reminding him not to start something he couldn't finish. 

\---

Mack was with Jamie in the garage looking over one of the SUVs. It wasn't officially in Mack's job description anymore but something about taking apart a car relaxed him.   
"Mack," the little girl said, causing him to look up from the hood of the car.  
"How long have I got to stay here?"  
This wasn't the first time the girl had asked a loaded question without realising it. She was at that age where every question had a million little questions attached to it most of which they didn't have the answers too.  
"This is your home now," Mack said lifting her off the workbench she was sitting on. "At least for now," he wished he had a better answer but the whole situation was still a work in progress and even when there was a plan put in place none of it would be child appropriate. Mack had no idea the deal Coulson made with Daisy or that she was currently working in one of the offices just like old times. He was just asked to keep Jamie away from the main hallways for as long as humanly possible. Fitz was keeping her entertained until they had started play fighting only for him to lose and need an ice pack.  
With Jemma off base and Bobbi in the gym Yo-Yo had taken him to the main medbay to get checked out. Not that he was going to tell a soul that he was attacked by a small child.   
"While my Mom gets better,", the girl simply stated before pointing at something shiny on the floor and letting the topic change. 

\---

"Give me good news Daisy" Coulson said walking into the now very awkward room  
"It definitely hasn't been 2 hours," she stated looking at the clock in the corner off her screen.  
"Anyway..." she said only before turning back to her screen. "The good news is there is a weak spot. The bad news is I have to be within half a mile of the building to access it, and someone will need to go in and connect me," she spoke quickly letting the words roll off her tongue hoping her answer was good enough.  
"Why you?" He asked.  
"Did any of your rookie hackers figure out there was even a weak spot?" She matched his question with one of her own. "It's got a local server meaning to add the names to the guest list we have to be connected directly to the source," She added mainly for dramatic effect and to prove her point. She knew her old team well enough to know that they didn't really care.   
"I have started working on the fake ID profiles but will need to be near the main access point for it to work,"  
"How did you know who needs an ID?"  
"Process of elimination. I know that you're trying to get 2 people into a highly sought after international gala. For reasons I don't know or care about.” She added again mainly for dramatic effect, “It's a high enough level op that you are personally watching it, that means you will only send in people you trust. Which narrows it down dramatically. Can’t be you or May as people know your faces. Bobbi and Hunter are way too wanted for you to risk sending them into an event like this, especially under SHIELD orders." She shot a quick look at hunter "no offence,"

"None taken," he shrugged, impressed with how calm Daisy was staying.  
"You wouldn't send in Fitz and Simmons together because well it's fitzsimmons so that leaves Mack and Yo-Yo."  
"She's good," Yo-Yo muttered to Fitz who couldn't help but nod.  
"All that information is classified,"   
"All that information is written over your face AC," She smirked. Coulson had missed all this more than he could let on. He had forgotten how honest and to the point Daisy was with him. She always reminded him of how it was, black and white. He needed that sometimes


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and leaving all the great comments. Sorry I don't reply to them all - Just a disclaimer, I am now moderating comments because I don't appreciate being sworn at :) 
> 
> Enjoy

"Not sure this is a good idea," Fitz muttered as they got into the quinjet.  
"Fitz," Jemma glared at him before putting a black crate onto the floor.   
"Is it not more worrying that we are leaving Hunter to babysit," Bobbi joined into the conversation.  
"I am here guys," Daisy said waving her handcuffed hands in the air. "I also thought part of my deal was no handcuffs,"  
"We know those gauntlets won’t stop 100% of your quakes but the gauntlets and the handcuffs lower the effectiveness of powers by 25% meaning that you definitely can't bring the plane down," Fitz looked up from the gun he was working on. Not even smiling.

A conversation Daisy had had with Yo-Yo several days ago about the new ‘inhuman proof’ cuffs told the ex-agent that she could get out of them if she needed to. It would hurt, but she could do it. Not that she was going to try. For the first time since the accident she had something at stake.

"You also promised me dinner with my daughter Coulson." Daisy ignored the information being spouted at her, she was exactly where she wanted to be but she couldn't let them know.  
"Tomorrow night. We will order Pizza," He said, closing the hanger doors. "I am on comms anything happens you ice her and get the hell out of there. Mack and Yo-Yo are due to go through the doors at 19 hundred, they need to be on the list. Its simple in and out, plane sailing " He was speaking to Bobbi who had already heard the drill a thousand times before. She simply nodded, it would take alot before she iced Daisy but she would. They all would. 

You could cut the tension in the quinjet with a knife, the ex-agent felt less awkward when she was kidnapped by ward then sitting on a plane surrounded by people that used to care about her.

"Apart from where they have to confirm the use of an 084 style technology without getting caught," Fitz muttered to himself as the hanger doors shut and they prepared for the flight.   
"Trust me it will be fine, easy once we get there, it’s a hotel hardly fortnox and you know my identities are full proof."  
"Trust you," Fitz scoffed without thinking, causing both Jemma and Bobbi to turn from the cockpit and look at him. Instantly regretting leaving them both in the back.  
"When have I ever given you a reason not to trust me"  
"Would you like the list alphabetically or in chronological order,"  
"That's enough both of you!" Jemma snapped looking between them.  
"Seriously, how many times can I say i'm sorry Fitz. I am sorry I left. I am sorry that I left like I did and took down buildings but I don't know what you want from me. I am here trying to help!"   
"You are here because it was this or jail,"  
"What is your problem?" Daisy finally snapped  
"You left! Don't you think we have all wanted to leave. Wanted to go back to a life before death and destruction but we didn't. We stick together because that's what families do; only you thought you were better than that. That it didn't apply to you!" He finally let it all out. "You didn't see what happened when you left, how many sleepless nights everyone had looking for you, but you weren't in danger at all. You were playing happy families with your devil boyfriend."  
"Fitz thats-"   
"No, it's fine," Daisy bowed her head. "I shouldn't have left when I did. How I did," she corrected herself "But I needed an out Fitz. Even on my good days I wanted to kill myself and no family should have to find someone they loved dead on the bathroom floor, I was harmful and dangerous." 

It was the first time Daisy had said those words out loud. The first time she had truly acknowledged how bad she was when she left. Jemma felt a lump appear in her throat, she hadn't thought back to just before Daisy left, it was a part of her life she tried to block out.   
Bobbi knew how bad it had gotten but hearing the words leave the ex-agents lips still made her heart stop. She should have tracked her down when she left, Bobbi had contacts SHIELD didn't, she could have found her. Made sure she was okay. Been the friend that Daisy needed when she didn't want anyone.   
The rest of the journey was silent. 

* * *

"And we are in," Daisy rubbed her hands together briefly before she started typing on her screen, trying to make it look more complicated than it needed to be.   
"This would be easier if I wasn't cuffed,"  
"Your opinion is noted," Jemma said looking at the camera showing the empty roof they were parked on.

Daisy looked up from the screen just for a moment before continuing. 

"We are all done Bobbi," Daisy said through the comms. Silence.  
"Did you give me a fake comms set or something?"   
"Why would we do that?"  
"Sometimes not right," Daisy said as the minutes ticked by and the comms were still silent.  
"They should be back by now, I could have crawled to the server room quicker than this," Simmons simply shot her a look but agreed all the same. 

"May," Simmons tried to talk through the coms but nothing, she was trying not to panic but she couldn't help it. Run of the mill Coulson had promised them plane sailing. Easy. They were none of the emotions Jemma was currently feeling.  
"This would have been quicker if I could have just gone in myself, at least that way you would be pacing around like a worried helicopter parent,"   
Simmons didn't even begin to answer before they heard it.  
The noise was unshakeable. Distinctive. 

Even with the hustle and bustle of the party starting to take place downstairs it must have been heard.   
Daisy looked at Jemma as they locked eye contact Jemma simply nodded.   
"Try and get hold of someone." Daisy said, shutting her laptop lid and standing up. She wasn't in field uniform, she didn't look like an agent right now but her instincts had kicked in.  
"We need to find Fitz and Bobbi," Daisy almost yelled as she heard more shots.   
"Daisy you can't leave the plane,"  
"So what we just sit here and listen to the gun fire!" 

Without saying anything else she pulled her hands apart and Quaked herself. It hurt but she tried not to flinch as the cuffs pulled apart.  She simply shrugged her shoulders as she did it. Daisy would have been proud of herself if she had time.

"Daisy, think about what you're doing!"  
"All I have done for god knows how many months is think about my actions, my powers, my life and where has that got me!” She looked at her old friend as she spoke  
"I know there is going to be consequences for my actions. I know I won't get dinner with my daughter now but that gun fire, might be Fitz getting shot!"  
"I know you think you owe us, for Lincoln or leaving but," Jemma pleaded as Daisy looked around for a weapon.   
"This is not a sacrifice play." Daisy looked up at her friend, "With all the insane crap we have gone through, one thing I have known the whole time is that you and Fitz belong together and if he is dead down there because of my stupid code then I will never forgive myself. l have enough death on my hands without adding anymore of the people I care about,"  
"Stay here, if they get back before me take off."  
"Daisy,"   
"I will find you, you have my daughter! If the building goes down take care of her,"  
"Daisy!" Simmons shouted back as the ex-agent ran out of the plane icer tucked down in pants hands ever so slightly out front. She ran into the door she had seen Bobbi and Fitz take, looking around. The comms room was just up ahead but there was no sign of her friends. 

She opened the door slowly, trying to make sure it wasn't set to blow. There were a few drops of blood by the server and her memory stick was still plugged in. She knew she had to keep going. She grabbed what was hers and continued down the hallway. Given her restriction band, a USB was always useful. 

She stepped over a steady trail dead bodies on the floor and noticed a familiar logo on the jacket

"Hydra," she muttered trying to process how this could get much worse. she now had her gun pulled out in front of her, she knew that Coulson was never going to let her out again when he found out, she didn't want to lose seeing her daughter privileges by quaking the building apart. The back stairs were creepy and made her feel on edge, there weren't as many bodies as there had been gun fire which worried her slightly and still no Bobbi or Fitz. The only comfort she had was knowing how good Bobbi was.   
"If it isn't Quake, back from the dead," A voice echoed through her as she opened one of the doors.

She was counting 8 people with guns. There were more of them than of her; she had done that math quickly, what stopped her was the 2 shield agents tied to the chairs in what appeared to be an old hotel room. disused from the layer of dust over every surface.   
"Sorry am I interrupting," She said, continuing to look around. She made quick eye contact with Agents Fitz and Morse who looked okay considering they were bound and gagged to cheap hotel chairs. She wasn't sure of the play yet, what the pair had said if anything so not acknowledging their existence seemed like the safest option.

  
One of the guards raised his weapon to the inhuman who continued to smile. One of the many skills she had mastered during her time as a freelancer was how to talk under pressure, the ability to not only stay calm but talk to the calm talk. It was something she had witnessed Bobbi do before, it was a skill she knew she would need to survive.   
"What do you want with them?" Daisy looked once again at the Shield agents.   
"The location of you or your daughter," He spat at her, his words hitting her like venom. “Looks like they weren’t needed after all,”   
"Dispose of them," He commanded, looking at agents, Bobbi had a black eye forming and Fitz looked like he had been hit with something sharp. Daisy looked quickly at Bobbi who barely scraped together a nod before Daisy shot 2 of the guards and quaked another set into a wall but not before one of the guns went off. She iced the other 2 before they could think. Glad she was able to avoid hand to hand combat with the current state of her arms. The main man started running shooting several aimless shots before he headed out the door.   
  


Daisy felt like an agent again, not that it was a good feeling. Her mind worked fast as she untied Bobbi from the chair. Fitz was shot, alive but shot. His shoulder was bleeding fast, Bobbi didn't look much better even though the black uniform Daisy noticed the small bullet hole in her trousers.  
Daisy ripped off the fabric she was using to hide her face and applied it to Fitz's shoulder.   
"You okay?" She asked standing back up. Bobbi helped fitz up, she looked unstable on her feet but hadn't commented.  
"We are fine, you?" She looked down at Daisy's hands who were not shaking but had to have been painful. The inhuman just nodded.  
"Simmons is waiting for you on the quinjet." Daisy picked what she assumed was Bobbi’s icer and placed it in Bobbi's hand before running out the door. "Get up in the air, get Fitz treated, you both need bullets pulled out of you!"  
"Where are you going?"  
"To kill the fucker that just threatened my kid,"

Agent Fitz was losing blood so against her better judgement the blonde agent headed back the way they had come.   
"Do you think she's coming back?" He asked gritting his teeth through the pain of having something pressed firmly against his chest.  
"I don't know," Bobbi admitted as she pushed the door open and limped towards the jet.    


The jet was now uncloaked with Jemma standing in the hangar doors. She ran at the pair. the 45 minutes had felt like a lifetime. 

"Fitz!",  
"I miss the academy," he muttered trying to stay with it.  
"He's lost a lot of blood," Bobbi started to talk realising she probably looked just as worse for wear.  
"Honestly I leave you alone for an hour and this is what happens," Jemma said, taking the blood covered rag off and applying pressure with a clean cloth.  
"Daisy?" She looks up to Bobbi. Bobbi shook her head slowly. "She saved us," Fitz muttered, wincing in the pain.  
"I'm going to get us out of here," Bobbi said "Hopefully once we get up in the air we will get comms back," she was limping, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Bobbi was damaged.  
"Your leg,"  
"Flesh wound," she replied, quickly gritting her teeth a bit as she walked. 

"Sir, it's agent Morse," Bobbi said loudly when she heard a muffled sound coming through her earpiece as they headed back to base.   
"Fitz has been shot, not life or death but we couldn't wait around," she continued before anyone could say anything   
"So has she," Simmons shouted making sure it was heard as she was cutting her husband out of his black outfit trying to locate any other source of blood.  
"Nothing serious. All flesh wounds on me,"   
"Bobbi what the hell happened in there."  
"I think Hydra and watchdogs are working together," she answered, trying not to think about the numb feeling taking over her lower leg.  
"You need to get Mack and Yo-yo out of there!" Jemma said joining in on the conversation. Talking was keeping her calm as she was looking around for her med kit.

"We don't know if their cover was blown but they were expecting us Sir," The blonde agent was starting to grit her teeth as the pain continued to spread up her leg. she looked around for anything to tighten the wound on her leg, just to get them to safety. She had brought Fitz on this, he wasn't trained enough for 1on1 enemy fire or being hit round the head and tied to a chair. The least she could do was get him to safety. That focus was what was keeping Bobbi calm. They weren't leaving Daisy, they were saving Fitz. 

“Where's Daisy?” Coulson asked, suddenly having an overwhelmingly bad feeling, he gestured to a senior agent in the comms down to pull up her tracking date.   
  


\---

"I've been looking forward to this," The hydra agent said as he looks at Daisy from the long hall,  
"Well this is just another fight to me," Daisy muttered putting her hand up and pushing the man back. Really wishing she had put her hair up before getting off the jet.  
"How did you like the bomb?" He slurred as the now very pissed inhuman walked over to him. Daisy recognised the face as soon as he said it. He was the man who threw the bomb, he was there the night it all went wrong.  
"How did you know about my daughter," she spat at him.   
"Your precious boyfriend, not so indestructible when he's not got fire coming-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before he took another blow from Quake.  He was the man that killed Robbie, that tore up her life she was only just starting to rebuild, and he was still living to tell the tale.

"Where is he?" She said standing over the man who was still winded from being quaked 50ft  
"He is being handled, I would do it again in a -" his sentence never got finished as the inhumans fist made contact with his face. Her rage etched into every punch.   
"You think you have stopped me, but we know about SHIELD and the hired inhumans-"  
"Yo-Yo" Daisy muttered before pulling his gun out from next to him and shooting the man in the chest. She didn't have time anymore, she was angry. She let herself stand over his body for a single second, letting a wave of peace wash over her. She searched his pockets knowing exactly what she was looking for. She wasn't sure whether he was a watchdog or Hydra but she knew he wasn't a good person and that was enough for her. She pulled his wallet and what looked like a small pager. She had to admit she was glad she was alone, the look on her old team's face if they saw her current methods wouldn't ever be something she wanted to see. May used the shoot now ask questions later but only when there was an icer involved. 

She looked at the small device she had pulled from the man's jacket.   
Looked like a pager but in clear red font it was counting down:

6.32

6.31

"Shit shit shit," she said half hoping it was just something that was telling the time.   
"Hello," she spoke into her comms again hoping it was up and running. Silence.

She didn't have time to figure out what was causing it. 

"If I was a terrorist trying to harm inhumans while causing chaos and mass distraction where would I put a bomb," She muttered to herself, in the way she used to do when she and Robbie were looking for something.  At this point he would normally come back with a witty smart ass reply and then it would hit her, but nothing.   
"Maybe killing him wasn't such a good idea," She continued to speak to herself like it was going to help.   
"Cause attention. Panic." She went back to her train of thought, looking around slowly really wishing she had paid more attention to the blueprints she was shown during the mission briefing.  
"But make sure that the inhumans are to blame," She said, kicking down a door to another empty room.  
"Not inhumans." She said as she heard the music coming from the event.   
"Me," She slipped the gun into her back and flexed her hands a couple of times trying to work out if she had broken anything else.  She wanted to run, to leave it all, but she just wasn't sure where. Nowhere was safe. "Blame Quake for another building collapse. Kill me, damage SHIELD. But that wouldn't make sense, they were looking for me," she continued to speak as she shot 2 men walking towards her, they looked harmless. It was only an icer but she didn't have time to explain herself or to try and work out what side they were on. 

She didn't have time to think as she opened the next door only to find the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen.   
"Everybody out!" She shouted as she ran through looking for anything that could be a bomb.   
Stopping at a large set of tinted glass doors, the music was now loud and the chatter of rich people could be heard echoing around the hotel.  
"So much for a low profile," She muttered to herself, briefly turning her head as if she wasn't alone. She opened the door slowly just enough to slip through, knowing that the blood on her hands and her outfit would make her stand out like a sore thumb anyway.  That's when she saw it, a small crate behind the bar. The logo on the side helt like a punch in the stomach, the watchdogs. 

"Confidence will always get you killed," She muttered, before she made eye contact with the bartender who clearly recognised her.   
"Keep your mouth shut or I will shut it for you," She walked over to him avoiding eye contact with everyone, hoping from a side view no one would notice who she was. Hoping she could buy herself time. 

She had a quick look at the ticking clock in her hand.

4.03

4.02

"Okay here goes nothing," she muttered to herself one final time before jumping onto the bar and firing a shot into the roof, if people weren't looking at her before that would certainly get their attention. She scanned the room and made instant eye contact with her old colleagues.  
She nodded confidently trying to pretend that she was okay, trying to pretend that she hadn't just found out her Boyfriend had been tortured and probably died for information he never even had. Trying to forget that someone else good had died for her.    
"Everyone out," She shouted, really hoping no one had snuck a gun into the event. When no one moved just simply stared at her she shot the ceiling again. When people still looked at she noticed the security starting to run towards her.

"Now!" She echoed around the room quaking the speaker off the wall causing the music to come to a crashing halt. People started moving before she grabbed the box slower than she would have liked and opened the lid just in case it triggered it before the time. She still had 3 minutes, not that that even mattered when she didn't know how to defuse a bomb. “Is it bad that I kinda miss ward right now,” She muttered to herself knowing that she would kill him in a heartbeat bomb or not.   
The bomb reminded her of the one she had seen all those months ago, the one that got her in her current predicament, just larger, a lot larger. She gulped down air trying to steady her nerves. The hand grenade took down a whole block of flats, something this size could take down this hotel without touching the sides. 

"Daisy what's going on," Yo-Yo came running towards her while Mack was ushering people outside.  
"Get out of here," Daisy looked up quickly. "You have 90 seconds, so unless you can pull out a bomb proof container out of your handbag get the hell out of here!" She added keeping her voice calm.   
"I can probably hold most of the blast but haven't done that in a while and my wrists are not in good shape so who knows." She was talking to herself now rather than Yo-yo who was simply looking at her.  
"We are not leaving you,"  
"Well you're not dying with me either," She snapped "Go Yo-Yo! No one else needs to die for my mistakes." 

Yo-Yo didn’t know that the code was Daisys or what had happened upstairs but as the ex-agent spoke she saw her broken friend once more. The progress she thought she had seen through the glass of the pod wasn't there anymore.   
"Get everyone out of here. This is a hydra and watchdog contraption. I have no idea what the blast radius is" She handed Yo-Yo her icer. Keeping the working Watchdog gun next to her, "Shoot anyone that tries to come into the hotel, " Yo-Yo looked back for a split second before running to Mack who was still getting people out of the room and out of the hotel.   
"Call May," Yo-Yo screamed as she pulled Mack out of the room letting the main doors shut behind them.   
"You left her in there!"   
"Bomb!" Yo-Yo yelled back as she felt her Comms reconnect when they got outside. They didn't know if the hotel was empty but they didn't have time to go back. They just needed to get everyone as far away from the hotel as they possibly could, as quickly as they possibly could. 

"There's a bomb," She heard Mack through her ear piece as they were pushing people away from the hotel, once they were outside the hotels their comms came back like nothing had happened. The already present media was now taking photos of them. Their cover was definitely blown.   
"Daisy?" Coulson asked.  
"Still inside Sir," Yo-Yo joined in through gritted teeth. "She's going to try and quake it," They both heard Coulson slamming his hand to something.  
"We need one of those containment bomb proof boxes," Yo-Yo added, trying to think on her feet knowing she was probably too late. She could run the box inside, not that running at super speed with a bomb was a bright move either and not that anyone would allow her to get herself killed. 

  
"She's going to get herself killed," Jemma muttered through the Comms machine half hoping her voice was too quiet to be heard.  
"Are we sure she just doesn't have a hero complex?" Mack said, trying to pretend that he wasn't scared for the outcome of all this.   
"It's more than that,” Coulson said not realising Mack was simply trying to keep the mood light, “I think after all this time she still doesn't think she deserves to live" Coulson muttered looking at the Jamie who was sat in the corner with headphones in watching something on a tablet Fitz had given her "That she still thinks she still has a debt to pay," Jemma thought back to her conversation with Daisy before she had ran off.   
"That's a big step up from wanting to kill herself," Bobbi added, looking briefly back at Fitz who was now sat upright and looked considerably better than when they boarded the jet.   
"She has a point Phil," May couldn't help but admit as she was grabbing a container for the bomb, hoping she had time. 

"I've got a bomb containment unit," May said through the Comms, she had been listening trying to work out where she could help, she had headed to the SUV once Mack and Yo-Yo were inside the building and had been waiting for orders, she couldn’t help but breath a very quick sigh of relief at the carefully packed boot when they mentioned bomb container. There were no bad guys she could hurt to solve this, and she wasn't the best at comforting scared people, especially scared rich people so providing the box made the senior agent feel useful.  
  
The couple were doing their best to ignore the media presence. Getting people to safety was all they could think about, well all they should have been thinking about. May was just thinking about Daisy, how far they had come since she had returned. Neither of them had their SHIELD IDs on them, they were in formal wear; it wasn’t something they had thought about, they were relying on peoples trust. Something that was starting to hinder when Quake was in the hotel. 

They felt the ground begin to shake. Mack closed his eyes and tried to remember his happy place. Trying to figure out if he had any regrets, anything he wished he could have done. Elena glanced over to him, briefly letting herself think the same thing. Briefly letting herself wonder what she could have done differently. Her powers made her feel helpful, gave her a sense of purpose when she was stuck but at that very moment the inhuman felt useless. She couldn’t think of a way to solve it, not without risking herself. Something Daisy would never let her do.

Daisy was holding herself together. She could feel every zone of her body on fire as she held the bomb between her arms. It was heavier than she'd expected. She could feel the world around her starting to move around her, unsure whether it was her powers or the bomb she tried to zone it out. It wasn't working.    
  
Her mind was racing with thoughts that were not helping, it was going to explode no matter what she did. Could she run with it, try and get it outside. Maybe that would be the best option. Then the building wouldn't collapse, but she had just sent everyone out. That would definitely look like a staged attack. SHIELD was always going to lose, maybe the watchdogs had got their way.  
She could feel her breathing start to get heavier as her arms started to tremble.   
The inhuman wasn't sure how long she had held it, no more than a couple of minutes but it felt like a lifetime. She wasn't defusing it, she was just holding it just before it was about to explode. The inhuman was holding a bomb in limbo.

"Not a bad way to go," She was speaking out-loud trying to keep herself calm. "Probably better than bleeding out, or drowning, old age would have been nice." She was talking through gritted teeth. 

"Agent Johnson" she heard a voice echoing through the empty room, it sounded like it was coming from a loudspeaker but she wouldn’t have put money on it. It had been a long time since someone had yelled that at her.    
"I'm concentrating!" She yelled back to the voice, she couldn't place the voice through her vibrations. As she looked back down at the bomb she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she was imagining it, she remembered reading somewhere that when you die someone you trust comforts you.   
"We have a containment box!" The voice said again, she didn't look up; she couldn't lose the focus. It was Mays voice, Daisy tried not to think too much about her being dead theory because that would mean that after all this time on her way to death May was her comforting person.   
"Please don't let me be making this up," She muttered before grabbing the bomb tightly within her shaking hands and running outside. She wasn't sure if her body was shaking because of her power use or because she was falling apart, when the ex-agent moved it was like her body had forgotten how to run. She was telling herself to move faster but every movement felt slow, like her body was reminding her what a terrible idea the whole thing was. 

She felt her vision start to go as the light from the outside world hit her. She didn't have time to look around. She saw the isolated box placed at the bottom of the steps. She couldn't see any of her old team but she didn't have time to second guess. She hadn't seen a containment box in several years and they didn't look like she remembered them. 

Mack, Yoyo and May were pushing back the crowds. They couldn't be sure she had heard May not until they saw her. Bomb in hand obviously shaking, causing the ground beneath them to begin a level of vibration. Even out of the corner of her eye May could see that Daisy wasn't going to last much longer with that thing in her hands. 

  
The chatter of the crowd was now all about Quake, the women who stood holding a bomb. The women who shot the ceiling with no warning, the women who was meant to be on death's door in a secure facility.   
Daisy dumped the now flashing bomb into the box and before it had touched the bottom Yo-Yo had slammed the lid shut. She let out a sigh of relief before closing her eyes and dragging herself to the floor next to the now locked containment box. She had so much build up energy but couldn't bring herself to move fearing if she would she would bounce into the sky.

"How did you guys ever survive without me?" She muttered catching her breath as she saw May run to her through her blurred vision.  
May could feel the camera going off around them. Everyone had a smartphone nowadays, they couldn't cover this up no matter how many favours Coulson pulled.  
"Can you stand?" May asked sharply, looking at Yo-Yo but talking to Daisy.   
Daisy nodded slowly pulling herself up to a standing position before she felt her vision starting to go again, her legs started to give way under her.  
"I think I am going to stay put," She said, lowering herself onto the ground once again. IF she had more energy she would have made a smart ass reply but she could barely keep her eyes open.   
"You did good," Yo-Yo remarked, looking at the senior agent knowing full well it hadn't been said yet.   
"I somehow don't think that's what the outcome of this will be." Her words were starting to slur.   
"Need to get her out of here now Coulson," May spoke through her comms, bending down and checking the heart rate of the women she trained. If Daisy’s comms were working she couldn't hear anything, the amount of force from the bomb would have knocked them clean out anyway.   
"She just held a bomb in her hands for 5 minutes, I don't want to know the damage," The senior agent continued.   
"We are on route. Get the pod ready,"   
"Mack we gotta move!" Yo-Yo shouted at the man who was now using his size to try and block the view of Daisy. The police had arrived on scene and with the flash of Mays badge were helping to keep everyone back but the damage had already been done. Quake had been seen. Daisy didn't have the energy to tell them about the trail of bodies that had been left on the upper floors. In her defence Bobbi appeared to do most the damage, not that the media would believe that.

Mack turned around and nodded hitting a policeman on the arm. "Another SHIELD Team are on route. We will be in touch about a clean up crew. Keep everyone out!"   
The police man just nodded before turning back to the crowds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure there is so many spelling and grammar mistakes in this but there is only so many times I can re-read this


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's still alive but that's along way from living

Daisy had lost consciousness during the journey home, after several rounds of tests it seemed to be exhaustion rather than any more serious damage, much to everyone's surprise. As Doctor Jemma Simmons ran the tests she couldn’t help but point out that she wasn’t sure how much worse Daisy’s body could get nor was the scientist turned doctor sure when she last saw a clean set of X-rays from the inhuman. The woman was broken beyond repair, the level of pain she lived with was more than most people could bare but Daisy did it for years while raising a child and blending into normal life so no one pushed the painkillers. 

"You need to make a statement Phil," May stated standing next to him looking at the 2 agents they had in the med-room. Both insisting they were fine. Fitz even standing up for Daisy which took all the team by surprise. Bobbi was staying mostly silent, which in itself should have worried everyone.   
"I know," the Director replied nodding his head, briefly glancing over to the woman he loved.  
"I don't even know what I am meant to say, there is no fixing this," He admitted out loud, this time actively avoiding all eye contact.

Jemma was stitching up Bobbi who was waiting on more test results, Fitz was looking better by the second, almost smiling knowing he was going to have a proper battle wound to share with his next class, a scar that was obvious to people that saw him. The engineer had more battle scars than most, but they were invisible, a weight he carried round in silence. He had grown so much since the scared scientist that got roped onto the bus but for the first time he felt like he could be a FIELD agent. The engineer turned science guy wasn't even sure how to describe the events that had happened in the hotel. 

They had let their guard down; something Bobbi would never forgive herself for. She should have taken her Batons. She could have stopped Fitz from nearly dying if she didn't believe Coulson when he said it would be easy. She was kicking herself for not going in on the defensive, the agent knew they might bump into people, but she wrongly assumed it might be the odd hotel security guard, a wanna be photographer trying to catch a photo to sell to a gossip magazine or a lost hotel/party guest. she didn't expect to discover a hydra/watchdog cross over trying to do the same thing as them.  
  
Fitz didn't blame the blonde agent, not that that would change anything. Mockingbird was scary good and terrifyingly impressive, something he had never forgotten, she had taken down a lot of men during the routine operation but she let her guard down when she saw Fitz being taken out. She hadn't even heard them from behind her, what did that make her? As she was being stitched up the agent didn't care about the pain, she cared about the possible lives she could have saved if she trained more; took less freelance gigs, stuck with the team. She knew no one would say anything, but she always was painfully aware that her only job in that mission was to keep Fitz safe long enough to plug in the USB and now she was with him getting fixed up.   
"I don't even know what lie can solve this," Coulson repeated this time in a hushed tone, his mind still swirling with possible solutions. He glanced over the May slowly trying to avoid her gaze.  
"I think you do," May looked at him before leaving to check in on Jamie who was now being occupied by Mack and Yo-Yo.

Jamie could tell something was going on, she was smarter than anyone gave her credit for. She could tell when she was being passed around, when her 'play dates' were cut off unexpectedly and she was moved from room to room. She noticed things, it was a skill Daisy made sure her daughter had mastered; the girl noticed that there were more people around she didn't recognise, but they didn't have any interest in her. They didn't even look at her but they were suited up in the way that she would see on TV or out the window when she was people watching with her uncle.

Coulsons eye followed the woman as she walked away before staring back through the tinted glass. He watched as Jemma was talking to Bobbi, he couldn't hear what was being said but he saw the facial expressions change on both womens faces as Jemma spoke. Hunter had briefly made it down to the med-bay only to be turned around by his ex. He didn't seem to kick up too much of a fuss, Coulson suspected he was trying to get answers, answers he knew Bobbi would never give him. 

\---

"Bobbi we need to go through theses results,"  
"Look Simmons I appreciate the once over but a couple of weeks not getting shot and I will be right as rain in now time,"  
"Bobbi," Jemma stopped her before she could stand up.  
"Seriously Jemma I feel fine,"  
"It's not fine," Jemma revealed slowly looking down at her tablet before making sure the girl was sitting back down safely.  
"I'm not pregnant am I?" Bobbi's face went a sudden shade of pale as she tried to work out why Jemma could be shutting the door.  
"What? No. Should you be?" Jemma couldn't hide the shock on her face.  
"I really hope not!" The agent exclaimed "You just have that I have to tell someone bad news and that was my first thought,"  
"I have a bad news face?" Jemma asked   
Both girls broke into a small smile, the doctor bowing her head a little bit.   
"Its not the first time I've been shot Jemma, I know the care plan," Bobbi let the conversation slip back to her latest injury before her sex life came up in conversation.  
"I know you have been shot before, I have repaired your wounds," Bobbi could sense the change in Jemma's voice so she silenced herself.  
"The pins and needles, numbness spread post injury site, lack of sensation," Jemma continued to talk.  
Bobbi instantly felt it all made sense.   
"It will be fine, just needs some RandR," She protested starting to stand up,  
"Agent Morse stop trying to stand! God knows how much worse you have made it already!" Jemma snapped hiding the shaking from her voice. She took a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke again.

  
"It appears the bullet had damaged some nerves," Jemma slowed down her words and passed her tablet to Bobbi, the agent wasn't a doctor but she knew enough to know exactly what Jemma was trying to tell her. Jemma paused again for a moment half hoping Bobbi would say something. When the silence took over she continued.  
“I am unable to tell long term effects at the moment. It's not really my area,” pausing between each sentence as if to catch her breath.  
"I am going to get Fitz to get a splint cast to help with the possible foot drop, I will get all the information sent to the recovery team in the main building" Jemma added finally letting Bobbi read the information in front of her, while the blonde agent didn't understand all the medical words she knew enough to know that calling it a flesh wound was a lie.  
"Jemma-"  
"We don't know how much worse it might get if you keep pretending it's fine," Jemma was trying to hide the frantic tone from her voice. She could have prevented half of the damage when they first got onto the quinjet.  
"Jemma-" Bobbi was cut off once again.  
"You should have told me it wasn't through and through when you flew us back to HO, you should have told me that it was giving you pins and needles, that it was numb, you should have let me look at it when you came onto the roof. I should have asked, demanded, to make sure you were okay!"   
"What would that have done," Bobbi kept her voice calm while her thoughts were going 100 miles an hour.  
"You had a bullet slowly shattering your nerves in your leg, never mind the bone damage.” Jemma paused for a split second, calming herself down, “It could have saved this conversation," Jemma admitted, feeling guilty enough about the situation.   
"Jemma," Bobbi looked down at the tablet one last time before looking up at her friend.  
"I made the call," Bobbi continued, pulling Jemma's hand towards her, "I made the choice to grit my teeth, Hunter will tell you I'm as stubborn as they come." Bobbi was trying to hold it together. She knew that it could be so much worse, but she also knew what Jemma was telling her, what getting Fitz and the recovery team involved meant.  
Jemma wiped away the single tear she had let fall. she hadn't missed this part of being in the field, of having to tell people she cared about that there life was never going to be the same again.  
The field agent wiped her hands across her face pushing her hair back, feeling dried blood still in it. Letting herself take in the news, it could have been so much worse she kept repeating to herself. If Daisy hadn't appeared Bobbi could have lost more of her lung or so much worse. 

"You need to rest," Jemma said slowly. Bobbi knew that meant she wasn't leaving the med-bay.  
"I'm going to get another IV hooked up, with pain meds and anti-inflammatories just to try and reduce the swelling,I’m going to put a splint on to fix the bone, it might need surgery but we can keep an eye on it for now.” Jemma was back to speaking fast, trying her best to become the professional Doctor Simmons she has mastered the art of portraying after months teaching at the academy.  
"I'm honestly-"  
"You're going to do this Agent Morse! You caused more damage in order to save my husband so you are going to let me do this in return!" Jemma snapped again instantly letting go of her best teacher's voice and the agent got the message.  
Bobbi simply nodded lying back down. Letting the doctor move her stitched up leg and wrap it tightly holding it at 90 degrees. Bobbi winced a little but nothing more was said.  
"Thank you," The agent muttered as she held it together.  
"I will find Hunter for you," Jemma squeezed her friends before signally a different medical technician to put an IV in the field agent. 

\---

"You look pretty good for someone that just took a bomb,"   
"Wish I could say it was a brand new experience, " Daisy muttered, catching her breath as she tried to move.  
"Hows Bobbi and Fitz?"  
"They will both be fine. I'm heading over there now, Bobbi has already sent me away once," He admitted   
"So how's that going?"   
"Really now? You want to discuss my failed marriage now?"  
"Well I just saved 100s of people and was put back in my cage so now's as good a time as any," Her voice was raspy as she spoke. Daisy turned from her bed pushing herself into a seated position, gritting her teeth silently as she did so, but didn't have the energy to stand. She was exhausted, her body broken and her mind fried.   
"What even happened in there?"  
Daisy shrugged, she wasn’t even sure she could remember it all.   
"I was on the quinjet then there was gun fire so I followed the trail of bodies. They had Bobbi and Fitz, Fitz was pretty banged up. Then there was a bomb. I shot the ceiling, which definitely blew my probably dead cover,” She forced a brief smile before continuing, “got everyone out. Quaked the bomb just as it was about to go bang and still ended up back in my room cuffs in hand," She did her best to keep her tone of voice casual, light even, to pretend she was fine, to pretend that she wasn’t in pain.  
"Why do I feel like there are some vital steps in there that you aren't sharing?"  
Daisy looked down at the floor briefly, looking at her purple arms trying to remember the last time her hands had been her skin colour.  
"They knew SHIELD was coming," She admitted slowly, "I don't know how but they knew. They got Bobbi and Fitz to get to me, they were looking for me. He wanted Jamie."  
"Jamie? What son a bitch wants to touch a child?"   
"I got him," Daisy looked up, not wanting to relay the conversation she had had with the man she didn't even have a name for, "Quaked him the length of the hallway then shot him with his own gun while he lay defenceless on the floor,"  
"Good,"  
"Maybe don't let Coulson hear you say that," Daisy broke into a small exhausted smile remembering that after it all Hunters past was just as grey as hers.

Lance smiled at the girl, it was noticeable how weak she looked. He wanted to unlock the door. To thank her over a pint in the nearest English style bar for saving Bobbi, he wanted to thank her for breaking all the rules, for risking it all to save her old team even after everything they had done.   
Hunter knew what was at stake for the inhuman. He knew that seeing Jamie was her reward for helping them, something that might not ever happen if the military demands her to go god knows where.   
"If you still had a badge, you would be getting a pat on the back for how many lives you saved today," He said noticing Simmons in the window.   
"Instead I lose the chance to have take out with my daughter,"   
He nodded his head slowly, it was the best thank you he could give. It was the best action he had to show her how much her sacrifice meant to him. To the rest of the team, even if they didn't have the words right now. He wasn’t sure they would ever have the words. They had all stood by while the director, the man who called himself her Father kept her in a secure module. Hunter was no longer sure what that made him.

"Bobbi needs to see you," Simmons interrupted when she noticed the silence take over, holding the door open for Hunter to leave. Hunter could tell the woman was shaken but given how tits up the easy mission had gone it didn't surprise him.

"You should be resting," Simmons said sitting next to the glass. Looking at her friend grimace as she moved weakly.  
"Suspect I have the next 100 years to do that,"  
"Coulson is working on it,” Simmons replied, she was sure of it. The man hadn't said anything, but he had standards, honours and integrity he knew that Daisy had saved lives.  
Daisy nodded slowly before lying back down. Simmons unlocked the door and went to help her.  
"I don't want anyone to get in more trouble because of me," Daisy grimaced again but didnt turn down the help turning her legs back onto the bed.

Simmons sat silently just for a moment at the end of the containment pod bed, looking at her friend.   
"Get your energy back then you can have a shower,"   
"I know I have very little dignity left but can't shower with all this kit on," Daisy didn't have the mental energy to lift up her arms but she was eyeing them; Jemma knew what she meant. The inhumans arms were now with more metal coverings than bare skin on show, it wasn't just to prevent her powers now. The scientist had realised how powerful the inhuman had become since she left. The gauntlets she had spent the day wearing used to compress her powers nearly all the way but from the fact she could hold a bomb in her grasp they guessed they were not that effective in reality. Fitz hadn't dared ask about the handcuffs after finding them in pieces in the jet while he was getting his shoulder put back together but he guessed they needed to be re-evaluated once he was back in the academy labs..

"We will sort something out," Jemma spoke softly, the way she had spoken to Jamie when they first met in Quake's old house. Motherly. The voice had a safe tone. Daisy didn't want to admit it but she had really missed sitting in silence with Fitzsimmons. She wasn't sure even now if she would ever get her friendship with Fitz back but had never been more grateful for Doctor Jemma Simmons. 

Simmons saw May enter the room and guessed that was her que to leave. Daisy didn't say anything as the agent left, but Jemma knew. Jemma knew what Daisy was starting to feel. She had seen the pain in the inhumans eyes before, it worried her. 

"Fitz has been cleared from the med bay, he's already talking to Bobbi. So it might be worth breaking that up," May spoke in her serious agent tone before Letting Jemma pass her. If it was different then May would have pulled the scientist in for a hug but they both knew that wouldn't have helped anyone.   
"You wanna talk about it?" The senior agent asked, noticing the inhuman dodging eye contact once again.  
"You talking?" There was genuine surprise in the inhumans weak voice, well as must surprise as her energy could currently muster.  
"How the time has changed." May shut the containment doors behind her. 

"Did anyone die?" Daisy asked, closing her eyes trying to hold in the pain scratching over her body.  
"No one worth anything.” May paused for a second having a internal debate about what Daisy should know, “we have had a tech team there since we left doing the clean up,"  
"Hydra and the watchdog are hunting for my child," Daisy muttered slowly. Daisy hadn't told anyone the conversation she had had prior to killing the hydra watchdog man. She couldn't even remember it all, to her it was just another bad guy that needed to die, that did die. Bobbi had mentioned briefly that they were asking about Daisy and her daughter prior to her grand hotel entrance but kept her answers minimal; while Fitz had avoided talking at all. Bobbi had been trained on how to run an interrogation from both sides, she doubted it was something that was taught in the science part of the academy. They all knew what would happen to Jamie if the wrong person found out about her, Daisy's childhood was a SHIELD example of keeping a child safe and hidden and she knew that they didn't want that for Jamie. Not that Coulson or May would ever let that happen.  
  
"Jamie is hidden and safe." May reiterated slowly, she had just seen Jamie, laughing with Mack who was still in his suit.   
"They killed Robbie just for a location, they shot Fitz for a distraction. Bobbi looked rough. Yo-Yo's powers are probably now out in the open, because of me. Nothings Changed. Everyone is dying because of me,"   
May let Daisy speak, she had so many questions, she wanted to know exactly what had happened when Daisy was alone but now was not the time.   
"Jamie is safe here. She will always be safe with us,"   
The inhuman pulled herself up leaning against the bed frame trying and failing to side the pain wiped across her face.   
She grabbed May's hand in her own, making sure she had the attention of the senior agent.   
"Don't let anyone else get hurt to protect me."  
"Daisy-"  
"Keep Jamie safe at all cost, do whatever you need to do. Hide her down here forever if you have too, I don't care. She deserves the world but no one else gets hurt to keep me safe. I don't deserve that,"   
"Don't Daisy,"  
"You have no idea what I have done," Daisy looked away from the person she cared about.   
"I could say the same about me," May held Daisy as she wept slowly. Daisys breath hindered every so often as her body rejected recovery.  
May had given the director her suggestion on how to handle the situation and to her surprise he wasn't completely against it, but he needed time to think. The press were never one for waiting.   
The news was already talking. Footage of what Daisy had done was circulating already, not that the inhuman knew that. She was dreading Coulson though, he had barely said 5 words to her when they got back to the base, she was in and out of awareness but she knew that wasn’t why he hadn’t spoke to her. Even in her exhausted state she couldn't bare to think about what might happen to her. Her daughter didn't need to see what she was. All the women had worked towards, all the secrets she had kept from her daughter were about to be revealed to someone who was too young to understand, too young to be thrown into a world of Good vs Evil.   
At least everyone that knew about Jamie's existence she either trusted or she killed. Well, she hoped she killed. 

  
Hours had passed since May had left and Daisy wasn’t what to do with herself. For the first time since she arrived she was reliving the events of the bombing and building collapse, trying to work out what had happened, trying to put together her actions for that night. Everything that had led them to that moment. Something the Watchdog had said before she shot him; they had taken Robbie, that meant he had survived the bombing, she was trying not to let her mind go there but she knew how unkillable the man was.

  
\---

Now the adrenaline had firmly worn off Bobbi was in pain. It wasn't the worst pain she had ever been in, that was for sure. Getting shot in the chest was a type of pain she hadn't felt before but that was quick then nothing. This was different. It was a constant nagging; a reminder that she had let her guard down.   
The pins and needles were heading up her right hand side stopping midway up her thigh. 

It wasn't agony like other injuries but it was numb, like she knew she should be in pain so her body was making up for it but the lack of movement was the fact she was avoiding. Hunter hadn't said anything when she had told him. He just pulled up a chair and sat next to his ex wife and held her hand. There was something about an injury that always brought them together.

"Hows Daisy?" Bobbi finally asked what she really wanted to know. She had waited for the room to empty out before asking, she had let the doctor do most of the talking to Hunter, most the explaining, the doctor didn’t ask too many questions why her ex-husband needed to know what was going on. Not that anyone would question either of them; they were high ranking. 

"She looks rough, like she hasn't slept for days and has one of those voices that you get the morning after drinking a bottle of vodka through a straw." Hunter replied, Bobbi had decided they were spending too much time together when she understood and could easily picture all of his references. The agent was now pacing the length of the medical bay his ex-wife was staying in. He was trying to process the news about her injury, trying to work out how she was so calm; after everything they had been through how this hadn’t pushed her over the edge. All the times they should have walked away why this wasn’t one of those moments.

"But she hasn't sustained any life or death injuries," He added, looking up from the floor briefly unsure on how to keep eye contact.  
"Physical injuries." Bobbi's words were barely audible but the message was clear.   
"What even happened Bob?"  
"I let my guard down,'' Bobbi shut down the conversation as quickly as Hunter started it. She didn't want to talk about it. She hadn't even been debriefed yet. She wasn't sure when they would. Coulson wasn't a fan of doing debriefing in a med-bay, with the scale off the op going from small to large clean up she suspected she had some time until everyone had returned. Not that she was allowed to move from the medbay.

"They knew about Jamie," Bobbi said, pulling and holding her ex husband's hand within hers, trying not to think how many times they had been through this situation. How many impossible conversations they had had while one of them was hooked up to an IV. 

"You should have seen Daisy's face change at the mention of her daughter,"   
"I don't think that guy will be coming round again any time soon," Hunter recalled the conversation he had had with the exhausted inhuman.   
"Not complaining," Bobbi smiled a little the same way Lance had done when Daisy had told him.   
"Disarm not kill, is always the goal Agent Morse," A voice brought the couple crashing back down.  
"Tell that to my dead leg," she looked up sharply as the director stood at the end of her bed.  
"Sorry," Bobbi lowered her voice again, realizing now wasn't the time for an outburst, she was exhausted, running on empty and it was starting to show.   
The director simply nodded.

"We need to talk about Daisy," The director continued not acknowledging the apology, he didn't blame Bobbi for the outburst he knew more than anyone for a mission to change you, it just was never meant to be a simple Data collection.  
"If you want me to blame her for this then you are barking up the wrong tree. I stand by what Fitz said, she saved our lives back there."  
"She's a risk,"  
"She's always been a risk, Hunter was a risk,"  
"Oi,"   
"Half the people in this base started out as a risk. Do I need to remind you that Yo-Yo first met Mack when she threw him into a van and then chained him to the bathroom,"  
"Mack strangled me!" Hunter added, instantly knowing he wasn't helping.   
"Hunter shot May,"  
"And she shot me!"   
"The point is Sir, who isn't a risk on this team," Bobbi spoke confidently considering her world was spinning and her body was 80% painkillers.   
"This is different," The director spoke slowly, he knew Bobbi had been team Daisy since she had arrived back in SHIELD custody, that's why he needed to speak to her. He needed the opinion of someone that believed in Daisy, that wasn't scared of everything repeating itself.   
"You know my opinion on the situation Sir, you know that we won't be sticking around to see her stuck in a cage while her daughter grows up 3 doors down," Bobbi stopped talking suddenly when Hunter grabbed her hand, it was his way of saying that he had her back.  
"I have a plan but I can't help thinking it's a bad idea..."  
Coulson spoke the injured agent through his idea, trying to gauge the reaction of 2 people he had grown to trust against all the odds. He knew that Bobbi was rational and aware of the outside world, he also knew what the couple had been through. What they had both sacrificed, that's why he wanted to make sure they were on board, because when they were in a sinking ship he had let them walk away, let them risk it all. He didn't want to put another one of his agents through that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be one of the most pointless chapters I have written but the next one is better I promise


	9. Chapter 9

"May has started watching the Spy Kids movies with Jamie, honestly watching her point out the flaws movies that are not meant to be factually accurate is starting to get to everyone. I'm just glad Jamie's not old enough for the James bond films yet,"   
"Bobbi used to do it with the British films Hunter made her watch," Daisy forced a smile.   
The director opened his mouth but before any words could come out the inhuman cut him off.  
"What do you want AC?" She cut the conversation off, she had had enough off small talk.  
"We need you to lie," He said  
"Might need more information,"   
"We have gone through every possible outcome, every possible solution." He continued "There is no way QUAKE will ever been allowed on the street with everything that's gone on,"  
Daisy took a large gulp and nodded.

  
"But Undercover operative Daisy Johnson has taken out hundreds of bad guys and just saved a whole hotel of very important people,"  
"What?" It was the only word Daisy could say out loud.  
"It's all we got," Coulson let his director's voice fade into the tone that Daisy remembered.   
"You're going to lie to the outside world, paint me as some hero?” Daisy asked  
"Today you were a hero, in the hotel,"  
"I shot someone point blank," Daisy said sharply knowing she now had nothing to lose.   
"But you could have shot them and then walked away," He countered in a tone of voice he had learnt from Melinda.  
"Coulson-"  
"There is a press conference in 4 hours. Yo-Yo has persuaded Mack to drive and get take out Pizza."  
"I'm not getting a say am I?"  
"Do you want to see your Daughter again?" The question was easy enough, the answer was even easier. Daisy just looked at him, knowing he didn't even need to hear her reply.  
“That's your play, threatening access to my daughter,”  
"I don't understand what you did, why you left, why you hide Jamie from us, but I do understand what it's like to lose a child over something you have no control over." He said sharply, looking away and admitting "Because I lost you,"   
He let his voice slip back into director mode before continuing "And you did good out there with those agents today, even if it was still bordering on a suicide mission,"  
"It wasn't," Daisy looked him in the eyes again, "I promise," she let the words fall off her tongue. She wasn't sure it was true but the words seemed to satisfy the director. There were moments where it felt like it could have been, where she could see the end coming around her, but when she ran out of the quinjet she didn't do it with a plan for no return; she did it to protect the people who had put their lives on the line because of her code.  
"I need to make a speech confirming you are Agent Johnson of SHIELD, I'm not going to comment on Robbie."   
"Robbie," She repeated after him. Wishing she had kept the watchdog agent alive long enough to ask where they had put the man's body. She wanted to know, she deserved to give him a proper send off. Gabe deserved more than that. She knew he had been keeping his distance, phoning Jamie but not wanted to come in and see her. Not that she could blame him, in his eyes the Ghostrider became the well known figure in the news because of her. Alone neither one of them were a huge threat but together they scared nations.   
"Then what?" Daisy asked, letting herself put the pieces together slowly.  
"I am not a criminal to the outside world but spend my life locked up in here," If Daisy had the energy there would be pain in her voice but just talking was already taking up all her effort.

Coulson opened the box he had been carrying,  
"There will be restrictions," He said, showing yet another tracking device to the ex-agent. This looked more like a good old fashioned police ankle monitor than anything high tech,  
Daisy just nodded letting Coulson explain his whole plan, it sounded more Mays idea than his but Daisy apprecated it all the same. 

* * *

  
Daisy lent again the door frame, she hadn't made herself known yet. She was just watching her daughter and the people she considered her parents on the sofa, May was actually laughing at the young girl sitting on Coulsons lap. Something Daisy wasn't sure she would ever see again; something no one thought they would ever see again,  
"You going to stand here all day?" A voice broke her gaze.  
"Just taking it all in," Daisy admitted "I never thought I would get to see this," She eyed up her family.   
"May laughing, I know it's a strange sight," Mack pulled her in close just for a moment.  
"Missed your tremors,"  
"Not going anywhere anytime soon," Daisy muttered  
"Choice or not I'm not complaining," Mack said loud enough to get the attention of the senior agent and director.   
"Mom" the little girl jumped from the director and ran towards her Mom.  
"Hey baby girl," she picked her daughter up from the floor trying to hide her grimace as her body reacted to the extra weight.   
"Nice to see you up and about," May nodded her head from a distance as she spoke.   
"Yeah it's good," Daisy agreed not making eye contact with the senior agent. There was a tone to both the women's voices that Mack wasn't even going to try and understand. 

* * *

"I can confirm that Agent Daisy Johnson is a member of SHIELD, she has been working under deep cover on and off for several years within SHIELDS watchdog task force." Coulson spoke calmly letting himself paint the picture of composure on his face  
"So you have been lying to the public for years?" A correspondent asked back.  
"Agent Johnson has been a SHIELD asset for a long time," He continued trying to remember all the lines he was advised to remember, "Keeping her identity a secret has been a high priority for us, not just for the mission against The Watchdogs but for her safety." He couldn't' believe the words that were coming out of his mouth, he was used to lying, it had always been part of the job description and as May pointed out it wasn't all a complete lie. Daisy never officially quit, and keeping the identity of Quake a secret was something they had done throughout the years.   
"Is Quake the only inhuman asset SHIELD has at their disposal,"   
Coulson tried to hide his change in facial expression at the wording of the question, they wanted information on Ghostrider. Information he didn't have or want to talk about.  
"SHIELD is a large organisation, we have hundreds of agents, some of which are inhuman," He spoke calmly.

"And do all your inhuman assets sign the soviet accord," A different women asked before the director had even finished his sentence,  
"The soviet accord was designed and put in place to keep people safe. We at SHIELD do exactly that. The appropriate people have signed the appropriate documents," He said, thinking back to all the arguments he had had with Yo-Yo, what seemed like a lifetime ago, about why she had to do it.  
"What do you say to people who are arguing you are covering for Quake?" Someone snapped back to the topic at hand,  
"Agent Johnson is a hero," Coulson replied knowing that quote alone would make headlines, " You have seen the footage of the hotel, how many lives she has saved. She risked her undercover op to keep that event safe," He nodded his head as he finished.  
"And what about the people she has killed in the process?"  
"While I cannot discuss open investigations," He added swiftly before talking, "Agent Johnson's work discovered and took out large watchdog assets across the country, where large scale termination was deemed the appropriate cause of action that was what was taken. On the whole the structures taken down were empty and done so to demolish large quantities of weapons or sources," Daisy couldn't believe how well the director handled things. He was lying through his teeth for her, something she didn't ask for or feel like she deserved.  
The Director continued to answer the questions briefly and vaguely not dissimilar to any other press meeting he had held regarding SHIELDS work but every-time he had to say Agent Johnson, he paused for a moment, just for a split second. Something no one but him even noticed, he couldn't believe after 5 years he was getting to say it again. Getting to prove to the world that the Quake they knew was a good person, was someone he loved and trusted.   
"Now the Identity of Quake is know, will Miss Johnson be a public face for inhuman safety?" Someone asked calmly. Coulson was almost refreshed to hear a question that had the potential to post Daisy in a positive light.  
"I can confirm that now the identity of Quake is known," He gritted his teeth having to call her Quake, "Agent Johnson will continue to protect inhumans," He answered.  
There was a murmuring between the reporters, he knew they wanted him to elaborate but something stopped him.  
"That's all the questions I will be taking at this time," He replied as soon as he could. He knew there were more questions than he had time for. People wanted to know more than he had prepared his lies to cover. As he stepped off the strange and let himself nod briefly at Mack a weight lifted off him. It was the right thing to do, that's what that told him. 

Everyone else was crowded round the TV in the hidden part of the base. Jamie was sat on Yo-Yo's lap looking at something on her tablet while the rest sat in silence. Bobbi and Hunter were watching it from the Med-bay. Hunter didn't dare leave his ex-wife alone in case she made a B-line for the nearest exit, something no one doubted she would attempt.   
"Why does this not feel like freedom," Daisy muttered as May stood next to her, while Everyone's eyes were locked onto the screen Daisy's were locked onto her daughters who looked so happy on Elena's lap, in her own little world. The small child had no idea what was going on. She had briefly pointed up to her 'Pop' who was standing on the big screen but it hadn't held her interest for long. She had been sat happily on her Mom's knee until Yo-Yo had returned then Daisy couldn't help but feel jealous that for the first time in her daughters short life she wasn't her favourite person anymore. In the months she had been locked in the containment module other people had had to do her job, now she was out. It was obvious how well they had done it. 

"You did a lot of bad things, all you can do now is balance the scales. Do some good," May says eyes now fixed on her Daughter.   
"So I'm in debt to SHIELD," Daisy nodded slowly as she spoke, neither one of them talking in any more than a murmur but the message was loud. This room, the SHIELD logo and motto was going to be her life whether she wanted out of it or not.   
May didn't say anything, her eyes flicked to the large screen when she heard the words 'Agent Johnson', Daisy had heard it too but to her it felt like a punch in the gut while to Melinda may it was singing to her ears. It meant for now Daisy was safe and well and in their care. She was home again.   
"We are family," May said once Coulson had finished talking, deciding not to reenter the conversation about debt and where it lies.

* * *

"Returning the favour," The inhuman opened the medbay door to where Bobbi was lay, the women looked bored and ready to leave. Daisy had heard from Hunter what was happening to the agent, what had gone wrong. It was a constant punch of guilt, a reminder of how much damage she had caused.  
"It's good to see you not in cuffs," Bobbi smiled. It was a genuine smile. She knew what Coulson had done, it was probably a play that the director should have pulled when they first had the inhuman back on base but they all knew that Coulson wouldn't think like that when she first came back. He was too angry. 

"It was my code," Daisy admitted to the blonde agent. It was strange being the other side of the med bay, her freedom wasn't yet something she understood. It wasn't the same as being an agent. She couldn't leave the secure part base, and didn't even want to know how many trackers were currently on her.   
"That's how they knew someone from SHIELD would appear,"   
Bobbi had heard from Hunter how Daisy knew the code but it didn't make it any less painful to hear.  
"I know it will come out in the end, so I just figured you should hear it from me,"  
Daisy continued putting her own version of a quarantine survival kit at the end of the agent's bed.   
"I know," Bobbi admitted, "Hunter told me,"   
Daisy looked up. 

  
"Before we event went on mission, he was impressed how you had managed to bargain your way out of the pod,"   
"Course he did," Daisy couldn't help but roll her eyes.   
"I think he was jealous that he doesn't have a skill that can be used as a bargaining chip,"  
"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not," Daisy felt her mood lighten as she smiled at the agent in front of her.  
"So how's being allowed out of your room? Feel less like a caged animal?" Bobbi asked  
"Its strange," Daisy admitted. "Jamie is in a routine that I am not a part of, I don't really know what the long term plan is, we can't-"  
"Take it one day at a time," Bobbi stopped the girl from speaking before she could spiral by making a very valid point. "It's been what 24 hours,"  
Daisy just nodded getting the playing cards out of the bag she brought.   
"I'm not an agent anymore but the world thinks I am,"  
"There are worse things to be,"   
Daisy let the conversation end naturally and started dealing the cards. 

The two women played for hours, laughing and talking about nothing. Bobbi didn't mention Coulson's announcement or Daisys up and coming press conference and Daisy didn't mention Bobbi's injury and what that could mean for her. The two agents were both working through things but they didn't need each other for take, they needed each other to remind them that there was life outside of what they were going through. 

"You should do something for Robbie, I know there is no body but-,"  
"I would if he was dead," Daisy looked up from her hand briefly ignoring the surprised look on Blonde agents face.  
"Daisy, you saw the building," Bobbi spoke softly ignoring the fact it was her turn and trying to catch the gaze of her old friend.  
"mmm,' Daisy mutters to herself instantly regretting starting this conversation.  
"Daisy what aren't you telling me?"  
"Robbie is unkillable, like been run over by a car so many times, taken bullets for me, been stabbed more than once, level of unkillable." Daisy was keeping her voice calm but her eyes fixed on the cards.  
"And you know, no body and all that,"  
"Daisy. There was no other survivors from that,"   
"That man that took you and Fitz, he knew things. About Jamie and me. Who I know and SHIELD, so either this team has a mole or they have Robbie,"  
"I know," Bobbi's words were barely a whisper as she thought back to the time in the warehouse. She paused for a moment before taking her turn sensing the conversation was over.   
"I will stop hunting them when there is no one left that can hurt my family,"  
"Daisy-" Bobbi was still not able to put force into her voice but Daisy got the message.  
"I will find him Bob," Daisy said, placing 2 cards into the middle, "Him or his body," Her words rolling off her tongue. Bobbi knew better than to question Daisy no matter how much she wanted to.  
“Don’t do something your going to regret,”   
  
Daisy simply nodded before pulling the cards back to reshuffle.   
“And don’t do it alone,” Bobbi added, softening her voice.  
“You think if I told DC my theory he would ever leave me alone,” Daisy hadn’t spokenly about her plans and she wasn’t about to.  
“I’m queen of badly thought out plans and SHIELD secrets.” Agent Morse paused before opening the can from her survival bag Daisy had brought in.   
“I’ve got you,” Bobbi added before letting the conversation wind down.

They continued to play mostly in silence, May had advised nurses to leave them alone while they played Simmons watched them from a distance. They were all glad to see both the women smiling just for a short while. Everyone was aware of the long road to recovery Agent Morse now had so the smile was a small relief. Daisy on the other hand was a better liar than all of them even through the smiles everyone could see the pain covering her. 

* * *

  
"Are you ready for this?" Simmons was eyeing up the ex-agent who looked very uncomfortable in the SHIELD issued outfit, Daisy couldn't help but look up and down at herself in the mirror wondering how she could slip back into Agent Johnson after all this time. The outfit looked similar, the gauntlets brought her back to being an Agent but she couldn't help but feel like a fraud. She was a fraud and now she was going to sit next to Coulson and lie. She was going to pretend to be a hero.   
"Ready as I'll ever be," Daisy smiled through gritted teeth. 

\---

"Being inhuman isn't what makes someone a threat," Daisy argued, not sure how she had been added to the conversation. She had spent the first 20 minutes of the conversation in silence, not sure where she fitted into it all apart from for the photos.   
"Preaching the words of the old SHIELD leader won't change the damage you caused while 'undercover'. " A senator put the word in quotation marks.  
"Director Mace risked his life to protect inhumans and humans alike. He died doing so. I am not him." Daisy said looking at the senator, her voice already starting to tense up.  
"So you are saying that you don't want to protect humans?" The women argued back.  
Daisy looked briefly as Coulson, the truth was all over her face. She didn't care about humans on the whole, she cared about a selective few. Her daughter. She didn't care about inhumans but the masses. As she was letting her mind wonder for a reply it hit the ex-agent she wasn't sure who she cared about anymore. Human or not.  
"I am a part of SHIELD," She tried not to grit her teeth. "The watchdogs are a threat to anyone and everybody that doesn't agree with their values. The watchdogs attacks have caused harm and death to hundreds of inhumans over the years, leading to only a dozen arrests." She let out a small breath of air half tempted to end up sentence there but as the Senator open her mouth to talk she just couldn't stop herself, "Yet they coast along just fine with some very generous donations, don't you agree senator,"  
"What are you insinuation Agent Johnson?"  
The look from Quake to the senator was strong enough that no further words were necessary.   
"Your hatred for inhumans has been obvious since SHIELD relaunched," Daisy argued, avoiding looking at Coulson, she could sense his glare next to her.   
"I might have not stood publicly by Director Maces side, but you certainly stood next to groups such as Human First,"   
  
"Agent Johnson," Coulson muttered under his breath quietly enough that the microphone wouldn’t pick it up but Daisy definitely heard it.  
"I don't understand how SHIELD is able to higher and train inhumans, knowing the abilities many pocess have the ability to take down cities and do unknown amounts of danger," The Senator spoke directly into the group of people no longer facing the inhuman or the director.  
"With all due respect Senator," Coulson cut in, "SHIELD works well within government employment regulations.” His voice was calming to the ex-agent, “We are not here to have a debate about powered individuals. Inhumans are not a threat to society, that was established many years ago. There are dangerous threats still around but being an inhuman alone is not one of them," Coulson never raised his voice as he spoke. Something he had had years of practice doing. He knew the time and the place for a verbal sparring match and live TV was not one of them. Daisy was holding her anger in. She had forgotten how much she hated being part of something bigger.

"You are talking like you're afraid of us even after all this time," Daisy said suddenly realising that she wasn't made for public speaking, "Afraid of people like me, afraid of our power."  
"Absolutely. The world has become a very dangerous place because of people like you,"  
Coulson held Daisy down subtly in her seat, now was not the time for Daisy to lose it. To be the Quake they were all scared of.  
"Will you be continuing your watchdog hunt?" A different man asked, leading the conversation back.   
Daisy's eyes looked at Coulsons, she knew that this was the closest to the outside world she was getting in a long time but she still wanted to know the answers.  
"The watchdogs are a terrorist organisation, they will always be on our radar just like every other organisation," The director spoke calmly again, even now she didn't know how he was doing it. Speaking so calmly after all he had seen after anything they had done.   
  
"And what about Ghostrider?" The question was leading enough. "Is there a reason his identity has been kept hidden while yours Miss Johnson is being thrown all over the media. That's if he is a good guy," There was vengeance in the voice of the Senator. Coluson hadn't had time to form a politically correct reply before he heard daisy rise for her seat.  
"Ghostrider lost his life to save mine when that bomb went off. A debt I will never repay." She snapped, feeling Coulson tense up next to her as she continued to speak "So I know that media curiosity is causing people to hunt for who he is but stop. He was a good man and now he's dead Senator. Dead at the hands of a terrorist organization. His name has been kept hidden to stop people harassing his family, not so you can accuse him of things now he's dead!" There was no hiding the anger in her voice. The fury at someone continuing to drag Robbie's name through the mud. She knew he probably wasn't a good guy in the grand scheme of things, but she knew she probably wasn't a good guy either but he wasn't here to defend himself and the inhuman knew no one else would defend him. No one else really knew him. Not as both Robbie Reyes and Ghostrider. Plenty of people knew Robbie Reyes, and she wouldn’t be surprised if now her face was everyone some people would be making assumptions about him. But to their old neighbours, his old friends, Robbie was a family man, he was the guy that would always fix a car, Jamie's teachers knew his face. He was one of the few Dads on the school run. Robbie didn't deserve to have his name dragged through the mud while hers was being cleared. Dead or alive.   
There was no immediate response from anyone, she felt a few camera flashes as she lowered herself back into her seat with Coulson's forceful but subtle guidance.

  
Daisy zoned out after that, she didn't want to hear anymore of what they had to say about inhumans or the groups they had set against them. She knew the money that funded the groups came from well off people and seeing one of them face to face made it very hard to react like a civil human being. If she didn't have Jamie she would have killed the Senator right there before posting her bank statements online and probably getting herself killed in the process.  
But she had Jamie and Gabe. They still needed protecting. 

* * *

  
"Your up early"  
"Could say the same about you I heard you and Coulson don't stay on base anymore,"   
May just eyed up the women. It told them both more than May would ever say out loud.  
"Right," Daisy nodded.  
"Couldn't sleep?" May asked knowing full well the answer.  
Daisy let out a small laugh.  
"You'll get used to it," May spoke softly preparing herself for her usual morning routine.  
"Get used to which part,"   
"Look daisy," The senior agent approached the women slowly.  
"Don't - ," Daisy cut in before the women could say anything else. Looking down at the agents arm for a moment before picking up her SHIELD issued hoodie and leaving the gym. Daisy wished she was ready to hear it, to understand why they all did what they did but she wasn't. She didn't want to know what led up to her being tagged like an animal and paraded around the media, she was done with making small talk - pretending that nothing had happened between them all, it was destroying her. 

The days passed by slowly and taking Bobbies advice was the only method of survival the inhuman had. She was trying to pull up any lead but was still very much under lock and key. Her daughter wasn’t used to having her around all the time and it was obvious. People tried to give Daisy the time and space to parent and get used to her new reality but everyone could see she was struggling. 

"I know she's pushing us away again, but there is nothing we can do about it," May said as they lay in bed.  
"It's going to be a long road," Coulson agreed.  
"It would help if she wanted to be here,"  
"She just doesn't want anyone else to get hurt." Coulson tried to reason.   
"To daisy every watchdog attack is personal,"  
"Would they be to you too?"   
"I don't think all the media is helping," May let herself admit as they prepared for a long night.   
"There was not another option," He kissed the top of her forehead trying to be comforting. It wasn't helping.   
“We can’t hold her here forever no matter how much freedom we give her,”  
“Do you think she could go back to her life now?” He looked at the person he loved in the eyes. Letting their concerns become obvious.  
“She’s safe here. And Jamie is safe here,” He continued.  
“Mmmm,”

Daisy on the other hand was preparing for another sleepless night, she couldn’t believe she had slept better in the containment module then in the bunk she had been given. She felt safer locked in the cell. She knew she was never really alone, that when she was secured in the Pod someone was watching her all the time, there were cameras. Someone would know if anything was to happen but now she wasn’t sure. While she doubted there was ever a moment that DC or May didn’t know her whereabouts the freedom was overwhelming, she wanted a gun under her pillow but realising that was never going to happen a stolen kitchen knife was her current weapon of choice. She wasn’t sure how much damage she could do with her current version of Gauntlets locked to her wrists so a knife was her best bet. 

As she washed her face attempting to keep some nighttime routine she saw herself in the mirror, through the yellowing light of the bunk she didn’t recognise herself. She didn’t feel like Quake but it wasn’t an agent looking back at her either. 

* * *

  
"It's my birthday Tomorrow," The girl said proudly when Mack was fitting her in the new bike they had made for her.   
"Wow, big girl," He said, trying to hold back the surprise.   
"I will be 5" The Girl said holding up one hand proudly.  
"Yes you will," Mack smiled before placing a small pick bike helmet on the girl and doing it up.   
The news about Daisy had barely made headlines 5 days before and after the interesting debate between her and the senator Jamie's birthday hadn't even crossed anyone's mind. Not that Mack was ever sure he had asked.

"Well what do you normally do on your birthday?" Mack asked when he saw Yo-Yo standing in the corner of the garage he had slowly been taking over.  
The girl looked up and shrugged.   
"Cake," The girl then said excitedly   
Mack couldn't believe how similar but different the girl was to Daisy.   
"What kind of Cake?"   
"Chocolate," The girl answered like it was the only obvious choice.   
"Course," The man said before the girl prepared herself to ride across the garage. 

"Look at you go speedy," Yo-Yo said as she caught the girl from falling before leaning back against the door.  
Mack glared at her for using the powers so openly in front of the small girl.   
"I did it!" The girl looked around at the agents proudly seemingly unaware that Yo-Yo had pushed the bike back up mid-fall.   
"Way to go kid," Mack smiled at the girl proudly. 

\---

"Where's Daisy?" Mack Asked looking around the secure Comms round she could normally be found in. A few levels 7 agents looked up at him blankly before turning back to screens, he tried not to roll his eyes. 

Finding her alone in the small gym shouldn't have surprised him, in reality it should have been his first stop, it was one of the few places Daisy knew how to get to and trusted. She knew where the cameras were, the entrances and exits. It felt safe to the ex-agent.

"Tremors," Mack pulled the girl from her trance and stopped her running machine.  
"Sorry I was just-" Her voice trailed off.  
"It's all good. Just came to ask you if you have anything pre planned for tomorrow?"  
Daisy looked at him almost blankly, "You are aware I cannot leave the underground," She said,   
"Tomorrow is October 3rd," He said watching her face change.  
"Another award for Shit Mom of the year goes to me," She let herself sigh just for a moment.  
"Take that as a no?" his mood was light, that was the only thing stopping Daisy from completely.   
She let her eyes roll before forcing a smile.  
"What a way to spend a birthday," Daisy said stepping off the treadmill and looking at Mack now.   
"We will make it good," Mack reassured the girl. Daisy couldn't believe she had forgotten it, she actually couldn't believe how long they had been down her. how long it had been since the bombing, since she last saw Robbie. The family had been here months. Months and nothing, noting on Robbie, nothing on her freedom and the world was continuing to pass her by. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to everything she was storing at the house Jamie was found in, did SHIELD box it up? Keep it as evidence or was it long gone into god knows what tip while the next owners got to play happy families. 

Mack pulled the girl into a hug she didn't know she needed and for a split second she let herself feel safe, feel at home.   
It was all hands on desk when Jamie went to be, She had been allowed to stay up until 7.15 which was a nice treat for no one. Bobbi was still recovering and couldn't hide how useless she was feeling. Even Fitz was helping set up the room for the little girl's birthday. Each one of them had a birthday they would rather not remember, no matter what happened to Daisy they knew the girl didn't deserve that. 

They had found some old bunting in one of the back end store cupboards. As it littered the large living area something about it Made the director smile, he couldn't remember the last time his old team had celebrated anything. It would have been a wedding, but even they were low key and normally interrupted.  
Yo-yo and Jemma had ventured to the nearest 24 hour stop in search of a chocolate cake, none of the team were very cooks/bakers at the best of times but with no back up plan they didn't want to risk it.   
They had stumbled into a target and both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw a chocolate sheet cake; okay it was huge and could serve 35 people but it was what they had. Thankfully the girl would be too young to remember the ins and out details of the day so as long as it was passable they would be good to go. 

Even though Coulson didn't want to be base littered with toys they couldn't help but pick some up for the girl. Instantly glad Hunter hadn't come when they saw a shirt with Quakes face on it.  
They grabbed a few clothing items for the girl while they were there, mainly so she had something to open. Daisy was never a big birthday person when they remembered her; mainly because for most of her life she wasn't even sure of the date. So they girls didn't want to over do it, they didn't want to step on the toes of the recovering agent.  
"We should have brought Daisy," Yo-Yo couldn't help but mutter as they stood against the racks of clothing.  
Jemma just smiled before letting Yo-Yo pick out the outfits.   
Since Daisy's return all their lives had turned upside down, their year plans gone out of the window. Small things like a housing extension or 3 months of leave for Fitzsimmons to finally go back to England, never got done but larger things had been put to the back of their minds like Mack and Yo-Yo looking into other options to start their family. Something that used to fill up their evenings with discussion and debate was now barely a conversation. It wasn't that either of them didn't want a family now. It just didn't feel like the right time, Yo-Yo was now not sure when would be the right time. 

  
"Thanks for this," Daisy looks over to Mack who was looking unashamedly pleased with himself for his efforts.  
"I've got you," He said, pulling the girl in letting her relax once again. Everyone noticed the interaction but let them have the moment.   
"After everything I've put you through, I don't understand why you would," She let him hold her tightly in the way they only he was able to do,   
"You are my friend, you were my partner." He said pulling her away but making sure the words were clear.  
"Something tells me that won't be repeating itself anytime soon," She smiled and let her shoulders loosen. 

For the time since she was let out that even they all sat around the table and laughed. Daisy didn't do much of the talking but no one seemed to mine. They let Fitzsimmons bicker about the colour of their bathroom while Hunter would protectively side eye his ex-wife every-time she lent forward to take a swig of her drink.

The couple had agreed to not drink while Bobbi was going through treatment, Jemma had pulled some favours and got the agent a consultant with a specialist for a few days time but it wasn't going to change the damage she had done; they both knew that. 

* * *

"Its my birthday!" The girl came bounding through her Moms bedroom door. Daisy was already up, yet another night of inconsistent sleep. She was glad her daughter announced her presence before jumping on the bed or the morning would have ended very quickly.  
"I know baby girl," Daisy replied, trying not to hide the relief that she was still her daughter's first stop. She wasn't sure how many of her old team spent the night on base and how many ventured home but still, it was nice to know she was still her daughters first choice.   
"Why don't we get you ready for the day?" Daisy asked letting herself actually smile.  
Her daughter's smile was from ear to ear. It was a facial expression the inhuman hadn't seen on her daughter since they got to SHIELD since Robbie.   
Daisy lifted the girl up and held her tightly just for a moment, knowing she wouldn't get the child still for that long.  
Daisy managed to drag out getting the girl ready for the best part of an hour putting music through the small CD player Fitz had rigged up in the girls bedroom to dance around the small bunk, upon glancing down at her watch she let out a small sigh of relief realising it was now nearly 9 o'clock.   
"Ready to go," Daisy grabbed her daughter's hand and smiled. For the first time since the bomb she actually felt like a Mom. Like she was back to being Jamie's Mom. It was a moment she didn't want to lose. 

Daisy saw the hustle and bustle coming from the room as they walked up. Jamie was skipping down the corridor as if it was just any old strip, not the hallway underground a government spy organisation.  
"Happy Birthday," The agents shouted upon her entrance. The girl immediately ran towards May who no longer looked taken back whenever the girl approached her. Daisy let herself stand back for the moments as her daughter took in all decorations. She was now firmly in the world of May and Coulson but Daisy didn't mind. She had spent her whole life looking for family, even after it all she couldn't help but feel glad her daughter was getting it. 

Daisy spent most the morning hanging back, watching her old team fuss over her daughter, each one of them over compensating for the fact they were stuck underground and they couldn't leave to celebrate, not that the girl would remember it but they would. 

"You okay?" Bobbi asked Daisy who was staring aimlessly at the bunting over the wall.  
"I don't know," Daisy replied honestly.   
Bobbi nodded knowing exactly what that meant.   
"Part of me wished he would just lock me up," Daisy started speaking again, glancing briefly over to her daughter who was now sword fighting with Mack, a gift from Hunter, which surprised no one. Apparently Bobbi had given him a firm no on getting her batons from the store so this was his next solution plus as he subtly pointed out they didn't have a huge amount of prep time.   
"Well that's not going to happen," Bobbi replied knowing all the options the Director had asked for their opinion on, knowing that her word was one of the reasons Daisy was out in the first place. The blonde agent really hoped she had made the right choice.  
  
"It would be easier though," Daisy admitted. The blonde agent wanted to tell her friend to snap out of it and that she was being stupid but having spent months subtly trying to get Daisy to open up to anyone she wasn't going to shut down one of her first personal things Daisy had admitted in months.  
"If I just left Mack and Yo-Yo to raise her, or any of you lot really." The inhuman carried on talking, "Then she would be here,safe, and you guys could get back to your lives before I came,"   
"Daisy," Bobbi put her hand on Daisys briefly, just long enough to get her attention, "You saved me life," Bobbi continued, "Fuck that. You have saved my life more than once," Bobbi smiled a sad smile, "Not one of us are going anywhere because we want to be here," She continued "Even Hunter," She added softly.  
"We are not here under some obligation," Her voice tensed up again just for a moment wishing she had something better to say, something that sounded more believable. 

The inhuman had so much more she wanted to say but she didn't. She didn't want to lose the moment she was having, the completely normal things she was getting to witness.  
"Mommy, Hunter said he is going to take me down to the shooting range," Her daughter said breaking up whatever was left of the personal conversation, still holding the plastic sword in her hand, Daisy didn't even need to look at the woman next to her to know she was currently death staring her ex-husband.  
"Did he now?" Daisy replied smirking at the man who now looked slightly terrified over the other side of the room,  
"When you are older," Hunter couldn't help but echo.  
"Well when you're older," Daisy reiterated, wanting to kill Hunter for just putting the idea of a gun in the mind of a 5 year old, "Maybe Gma can take you, but never hunter," Daisy let her voice relax as she kissed the top of her daughters head. She could not longer look at May or Coulson, it was easier when she was locked in her containment module at least that way she knew where she stood for them.

Maybe this was all going to be okay after all. Jemma had taken a photo of Jamie and Daisy, looking at the photo on the smartphone screen Daisy couldn't help but catch her breath at how similar her and her daughter looked. She hadn't seen herself properly since she got here. Every time she looked in the mirror she didn't see herself, but looking down at the photograph for the first time since she arrived she saw the person she remembered.  
Jemma had also made May and Coulson pose for one with Daisy and her daughter. No one said anything at the time but it was a very cute family photograph. The whole team knew that there were more unspoken words between May, Coulson and Daisy than they ever had time to talk about, ever wanted to talk about, but they all wanted to make memories for Jamie. Every member of the team had family photographs they held onto during their darkest hour, pure memories that gave them hope… All apart from Daisy, that's why the inhuman let the photos be taken, that's why she plastered a smile on her face and looked Coulson in the eye just for a moment even if no words were spoken. She did it so Jamie would have something pure to look back on when she thought back to these years. So that her daughter wouldn’t just remember this as the year her Dad vanished and her Mom got locked up. 

  
Coulson printed the photo almost immediately and stuck it behind his badge, just to remind him of what he was fighting for. While Fitz and Mack helped Jamie craft a frame to give to May with the photo firmly placed inside. They wanted to give a photo to the inhuman but they knew she wasn’t ready yet. 


	10. Chapter 10

"Mama," the girl says lifting her head up   
"Yes baby girl,"  
"I miss Daddy," The small girl said before Daisy squeezed her tightly.   
"I miss him too," Daisy let herself admit before kissing her daughter on the forehead and wiping the dark wavy hair from her child's face.  
Daisy let them sit watching the TV, if someone came in they did so silently she couldn't remember the last time she had watched TV with her daughter. It wasn't really there.   
"And Uncle Gabe. Pop said he would come back soon though but not Dad,"  
Daisy's heart stopped for a moment as she just stared blankly at her little girl, still so innocent. The inhuman couldn't remember much about her younger years, she had spent years systematically blocking them out so she didn't have to relive any more pain than necessary. However some moment, when it was just to two of them she wished she could relive them just for a moment, just to see her younger self again. To compare her daughter's childhood smile to hers, to work out at what age her hair got that natural wave that takes over her daughters head. So that she knew what part of her daughter was like Robbie, to give her something to hold onto. She was certain the smile was all Robbie.   
"Hopefully soon," Was all the ex-agent could reply, she wasn't sure which bit she was replying too but the girl didn't notice as she held her Mom tightly. 

May couldn't help but watch from the side lines, trying to let herself imagine the women she trained as a Mom even as she watched the mother and daughter interact. She couldn't always see it, she couldn't imagine the girl that left her care looking after herself never mind a daughter but there she was.  
Daisy knew her behaviour with the agents was hot and cold but she couldn't help it, she couldn't help that one minute she felt like she was fitting in, that it was starting to feel okay again then the next the alarm was blaming and the system had shut down around her just because she was looking up the nearest clothing store. She didn't know where she fitted in anymore. When she was alone with her daughter, for the few spare moments where everyone had a job to do and they left her she felt like a parent again but most of the time she wasn't even sure of that fact anymore. 

\---

"Is this the long term plan?" Bobbi couldn't help but ask her ex-husband as they lay clothes scattered on the floor around them. Bobbi couldn't help that she had fallen back into old habits outside of her bunk; she felt broken, still a long way off from walking as normal and she knew that there was no plan to let her anywhere near field work again.   
"Why do I have a feeling you're not talking about our relationship right now?" Hunter pushed himself up from the pillow and leant against the bed frame.  
They hadn't missed the lack of privacy that came from basically living on a SHIELD base but something, or someone, was stopping them from leaving for long stretches of time. Not that either of them were sure where they would go. Until Daisy returned they were used to doing long stretches apart, renting month by month apartments in opposite corners of cities letting themselves spend a few nights caught in each other's company before heading back in opposite directions. Sometimes with SHIELD badges in hand other times with them hidden in the far corner of their kit bags.   
"I'm being serious," Bobbi smiled at him as he passed her a bottle of water and the medical team issued painkillers she was required to take. She spoke slowly looking down at her leg that was currently the most covered part of either of their bodies.   
"So am I,"  
"I could freelance," Hunter admitted thinking about all they had done when they first left.  
"You would walk away?" Bobbi sounded genuinely surprised by the admission from him.  
He shrugged.  
"SHIELD has been your thing a lot longer than it is mine,"  
"I mean we could just take a holiday," Bobbi looked at him  
"When was the last time we did that?"  
"Russia?" She pulled herself up and smiled causing him to bow her head slightly and laugh.  
"I'm being serious Bob,"  
She let the smile stay on her face and tried to relax.  
"I let my guard down for 10 minutes and Fitz got shot," Her voice was quieter this time she intrinsically put her hand on her leg. Hunter pulled himself back down to the lying flat.  
"We are not going through this again, especially not now," He replied, eyeing up the naked women wrapped in the sheets next to him.  
"Fitz is fine!" He felt the need to reiterate for what felt like the 100th time.   
"This time," She muttered  
Hunter couldn't help but pull the women in for a kiss, it was easier than going round in circles.   
  
\---

"I think I might pick up my classes again," Fitz broke the silence as she was looking into a microscope. She looked up sharply.  
"Is that what you want?"   
He shrugged.  
"I liked our out of the field semi-retired, normal life," He admitted. While the room was empty he instantly felt 100 eyes staring him down.  
"Its all different now,"  
"Not for us,"  
"Yes for us, what are we going to do just leave?"  
"Not leave, just pick up normality. Our life,"  
"This is our life," Jemma snapped suddenly without thinking,   
"So what we just stay in the underground forever, babysitting Daisy,"  
"Daisy doesn't need babysitting,"  
"Could have fooled me, what's the longest time she's been left alone?"  
"Fitz-,"  
"I'm not sure how any of this is helping Jem,"   
She looked at him, her eyes telling him to continue.  
"I have spent the last week of sleepless night getting new gauntlets set up for her, to keep her arms secure to limit her powers,"  
"To protect her,"  
"To protect us," He felt the need to correct. The engineer wasn't sure how he felt about his old friend. Since the hotel he had a new level of respect for her, whether he would admit it outloud or not. They could now talk even if it wasn't in the way they used to before. He wasn't sure he wanted that back; he wasn't sure he could let the women in the way she was before. All the death and destruction he had seen couldn't help but change his view on the world.   
"Fitz we will get through this you know, before you know it we will be back to teaching and planning our road trip down the english coast," She stood her now grabbing her husband's hands within her own and kissing them softly.   
"You think?" he couldn't help but sound surprised. The side he had been seeing of his wife since the inhumans return was something he hadn't seen in years and he wasn't sure whether it worried him or excited him.   
"I know," She kissed him on the lips to prevent any further questions. She didn't know, of course she didn't. As much as Jemma liked how almost normal their life had become in recent years, she liked being in the lap again, actually saving people; back on their great adventure they would fantasize about back at the academy. She loved teaching, loved making a difference but she couldn't pretend she was still in a rush to return to the classroom with her name on the door. 

* * *

"You spend a lot of time in the gym,"   
Daisy looked up at the engineer, slowing the treadmill down.  
"There isn't a long list of places I can go," Daisy replied sharply.   
"Where's Jamie?"   
"Mack and Yo-Yo have taken her to some park,"   
Fitz nodded slowly knowing that Daisy wasn't yet allowed to leave the underground free granted or not.  
"I have new kit for you,"  
"Oooh a fancier tracking device how exciting,"  
Fitz didn't have a reply.  
"Not tracking, just power control," He finally replied. "You have to come to the inhuman lab for testing though,"  
"Out of the underground? Are there chains?"  
Fitz let out a small laugh before realising the women was being serious.   
"I have had my powers nearly 20 years, I have control," Daisy muttered, finally stepping off the treadmill to face the agent.  
Fitz decided not to reply, throwing the woman her towel from the side.  
"Shower and meet me in 20,"   
Daisy just nodded, before walking in the direction of her bunk.  
It wasn't a relaxing shower when she was laced in metal and devices, it had been over a week and it didn't yet feel like any form of freedom. She was just in a larger cell with access to controlled activities. She couldn't help but feel like she had simply been moved from a high to lower level prison.   
As the water hit her skin it didn't feel relaxing; a shower when she was on the run was quick, a must between locations, 2 minutes of often cold water at a beaten down rest-stop. But when the inhuman had settled with Robbie and Gabe and her dysfunctional little family she began to enjoy the time under the hot water; partly because she knew it would always be warm and partly because she felt safe enough to savour it. She didn't feel safe anymore. No one blamed her, in fact most of them blamed themselves for not doing more when she first left all those years ago; or even when she returned. 

\---

As Fitz unlocked the gauntlets Daisy let her arms stretch out, feeling the world around her. She couldn't work out if the feeling of the lab relaxed her or put her on edge but she liked it all the same. She had missed it, the feeling of normality that came with having her arm unrestricted, unchained.   
The newer set looked almost identical, given they were slightly thinner and Fitz had assured them that they were lighter and would feel less restrictive. Daisy didn't have the energy to point out that as he had never had to wear a metal pair of gloves 24/7 therefore he shouldn't be allowed to comment on the restrictiveness or comfort of the devices.

As she let him slide the new one over the thin fabric covering Jemma had recommended to keep her arms compressed. The wrappings felt like they were there for medical reasons, they felt like they were helping. The Gauntlets on the other hand felt like a prison.   
The new set felt slightly looser than the last set, not that she would comment. She wasn't sure what these were meant to do, it's not like she had quaked anything in a really long time but keeping them on, wearing them without a fuss, was a peace keeping method on her end. 

"How do they feel?"  
"Prefer them off," She looked down at her hands, getting used to the silence of the world around her once again.  
"There for your own protection,"  
"keep telling yourself that," she muttered  
"Daisy your bones were shattered,"  
"I am also powerful enough to take this whole place down,"  
"I know," Fitz looked up from her arms for a moment to make eye contact,  
"How do they feel?"  
"Fine,"  
"You wouldn't tell me even if these were null and void but I appreciate the lie,"  
"At least you know," Daisy replied, catching his eye contact again. The pair shared a brief smile, and just for a second it felt like nothing really changed, they could still be confused 20something just trying to figure themselves out, just finding their place in a world not really meant for them.   
"I will get Jemma to check over the X-rays," He broke the silence briefly lifting the inhumans hand up to check the Gauntlet   
was secure,  
"Okay," Daisy nodded looking down at her wrists wishing there was another way she could hold her daughter, wishing she didn't have to ask for someone permission to take the metal chains off her wrist. 

* * *

The TV was just background noise, Daisy was waiting for someone to sneak her in some headphones so she didn't have to listen to news on the big wide world while she was living in a false version of freedom.  
'Body of a Latino man found posed outside ex-shield HQ the triskelion." The reporter said, causing Daisy to look up from the paperwork she was staring at aimlessly.   
In the background of the women she saw SHIELD logos.   
"Turn this up," She demanded, turning to the unknown agent who was sitting near the front of the communications room.  
'While no official statements have been made the boy appeared to have something stapled onto his chest,' Daisy was standing now while the other agent had gone back to his lines of code. As the camera panned around again she was now certain of what she saw. 

Getting up without saying another word she stormed down the hallway trying to remember how to get to Coulson's office. Trying to figure out how to get out of the underground.  
"Where's Coulson?" She demanded as she walked past Yo-Yo and someone she didn't recognise in the hallway. The inhuman was now in tunnel vision.   
"Daisy," Yo-Yo grabbed the girl by the arm causing her to look at her.  
"Whats going on?"  
"They got Gabe," was all she could say, her words were less than audible, clearly holding back the tears.   
"Who did?"  
"The watchdogs, Hydra. I don't know. It's on the news," Daisy snapped out of frustration before pulling away from the fellow inhuman and heading towards the stairs. She looked down at her hand briefly where she had snagged Yo-Yo pass out of her pocket before heading towards the exit. 

'Freedom is overrated anyway' she muttered as she exited with Yo-Yos ID, trying not to make eye contact with anyone as she entered the hustle of the main building.   
She knew that Jemma was somewhere in the main science lab, not that she had any idea where that was only that if she noticed it to walk past fast and make no eye contact. She felt her USB in her pocket, filled with 10 minutes of data encryption if she needed to do some quick research, not that the inhuman would even know what to search. She had slipped into survival mode before her emotions had fully kicked in. The inhuman had mastered the art of holding it together while on the run, but this was testing her like nothing else. 

She spotted a well dressed Man with a level 6 lanyard proudly around his neck and decided he would be a good first step to find some information or at least the direction of the offices. 

  
Walking swiftly through another glass door she saw May holding the door open for Bobbi as they appeared to enter a secured set of doors. Both of them with a higher clearance than Yo-Yo she wasn't sure if she would make it through but with her head down she attempted anyway making sure to keep her right arm firmly away from the scanner, it needed to pick up the pass before her massive not subtle do not enter bracelet.

"The body has been identified as Gabe Reyes," Agent May was talking to a group of a dozen agents including Bobbi. Bobbi still had a commanding presence about her even if she was still on crutches and not quick on her feat. She was leaning subtly against a tall stool as if to play down her level of injury. Something everyone knew she would pay for later. Her body was still recovering and to what level no one knew. Simmons had kept positive but Bobbi knew enough to know when someone was playing out best case. The nerve specialist she had spoken to just a few hours earlier was the only reason she had agreed to assist Agent May. Bobbi needed to feel useful before she let her world come crashing down.

  
If either of them saw Daisy slip through the door she didn't say anything. The ex-agent looked subtly around the room, trying to make it look like she belonged. She had not seen much of the triskelion before the collapse but this was exactly what she imagined. There was a large glass side to one of the buildings and it was busy. Large screens and fancy tech she knew she shouldn’t be anywhere near.  
  
As Bobbi scanned her head around the room she clocked Daisy. Not being able to move from next to May’s side she couldn't do anything but stare at the woman half wondering how she got this far in the building and half proud of her.   
May pulled up a photo that Coulson had sent her from the site just moments before.  
"Cause of death is unknown but with this mark on his chest. We know they were trying to get our attention,"  
May pulled up another photo and it was off something stapled to the young lads blood covered shirt.  
QUAKE 19:00  
"Is it a threat?" An agent asked.  
"As yet unknown," Agent Morse said, still looking at Daisy who was hovering at the back of the room.   
"Is there any connection between the kid and Agent Johnson?" A younger female agent asked. Daisy felt a pit form in her stomach caused by being called Agent Johnson. It had been a long time since someone had said it and didn't have any other meaning. To the people in this room she was undercover, need to know, still working with SHIELD.  
The brief look between May and Bobbi meant they were debating their next lie. That's when May saw Daisy hovering by the door. The senior agents facial expressions changed instantly. Daisy's eyes were fixed on the photo of Gabe. He didn't deserve to die. Of all the people in her life, he wasn't a spy, or a hero, he was barely an adult.

  
That's when she saw it, the paper it was written on. The logo in the corner. It was heavily faded, barely a watermark but she recognised the logo anywhere. Canelo's Auto and Body. Daisy had worn one of Robbies old work t-shirts to train in since she first met him. Even now the body shop reminded them of the beginning of it all, and how differently it could have all turned out. Looking closely at the paper one more time, she was certain even through the screen that was the faded imprint of where she had met Robbie.

Before she had time to hear the answer she exited and closed the door, hoping May wouldn’t follow her and knowing Bobbi didn’t have the speed. Now in full mission mode with Yo-Yos card etched into the palm of her hand she headed towards the empty computers she passed while following the man in the fancy tie, keeping an eye out for a hub box. She knew she didn't have long. She just needed one bit of information before she set off.  
She forgot how much she enjoyed playing the system without skipping a beat she placed the USB into the hub. Mentally starting her 10 minute countdown.

She let out a small sigh of relief when she was successfully able to unlock the device, again with a swipe of Yo-Yos card. People had started to notice her presence but as of yet no one had said anything. 

'The interface on this system is awful,' she muttered to herself.   
Her first search felt like an obvious one %GHOSTRIDER% she briefly looked back down at the time before scrolling. Realising she didn't have time to look through every case that had appeared to have Robbies involvement, she went onto plan B:  
%GHOSTRIDER VEHICLE%  
She clicked on the first result and saw a photo of the car in a storage room with the same triangle that they had put on her van when she first joined.   
Storage room HO4C section 178  
“Okay, where would that be,” She muttered glancing around searching for anything that could lead to directions.  
She locked the machine again resisting the urge to search for anything else, she had so many questions but knew it wasn't the time.   
Looking down at her current attire she knew it wasn't a ‘steal a car from SHIELD then escape from custody’ look, she also knew there was high chance of ending up in a body bag and she didn’t want to go down wearing SHIELD issued gym wear, she wanted to roll her eyes at herself but she knew she wanted to die looking as powerful as she had the ability to be, so without letting herself think so too much about it she snuck back into the secure hallway knowing she didn’t have much time, not much time before people caught on and not much time until her head caught up with her emotions.

In comparison to the rest of the base the underground was eerie and quiet. There was no hustle and bustle, she couldn't even hear her daughter's voice which often echoed down the hall.   
Ducking into what was now her bunk she pulled out the black protective outfit Fitzsimmons had given her for her press interview. It made her feel like Agent Daisy Johnson as she slipped into it. You could see the bump out from her restrictions band on her upper arm, without thinking she used the knife from under her pillow and cut the ankle tag she had been given as part of her release agreement. In principle the USB she plugged into the mainframe should over right her location alarm. The ex-agent obviously hadn’t had time to test it so it was all theory and the USB needed to stay plugged but she didn't know how long that would be. She also didn’t know much long she would have until the ankle bracelet let the Director know it had been cut; she assumed it wouldn’t be long, if any time at all. 

Flexing her hands within her Gauntlets the pain was now nonexistent but she took a few preemptive bone healing tablets from her shelf and swallowed them dry. She looked at herself one final time in the mirror unsure of who the person looking back at her really was. When she used to glance in her hallway mirror she would see Mom, girlfriend, provider but in the small circle frame she wasn't sure who she saw. She didn't feel like a Mom anymore, she wasn't a girlfriend and the closest thing to providing for her daughter was the above par maths lessons Jamie was currently getting.

She didn't let herself cry as she took one final look around her bunk grabbing an oversized jacket with a hood that she could slip on if needed.   
She had been a 'free woman' for all of 21 days and she was about to risk it all again. The inhuman wasn't letting herself think of Jamie as she locked the door behind her checking the corridor up and down knowing most people would be suspicious to see her in tactical gear when she was still bound to the base. 

"Where are you going?" A voice caught her just as she was about to swipe Yo-Yos key card to head back out to the main area in search of the storage room.  
"I need to do this," Daisy said looking at the women. "This is my fight,"   
Yo-Yo took the key card out of the woman's hand before she even noticed.  
"Okay," Yo-Yo replied, unlocking the door. "You need to do it but you don't need to do it alone,"   
"No one else needs to get hurt for me," Daisy said looking around before opening the door.  
"At least tell me what you're looking for,"  
"Storage room 4C"   
"You want the car," Yo-Yo smiled knowing that it was as much Daisys safety net as it was an easy way out.   
"Robbie never let me drive it, figures now a good a time as any,"   
"Down West Side. Second door then third door. That's the storage room." Yo-Yo explained, placing her keycard back in her old friend's hands.   
"Are you sure about this?" Yo-Yo needed to ask even if she already knew the answer.   
Daisy nodded for a moment before talking "Look after Jamie okay? She's inhuman, she is going to need you," Daisy replied, trying to hide all the guilt from her voice even though it was written all over her face.  
"You have 12 minutes until I report my key card as stolen," Was all Yo-Yo could bring herself to reply. It hurt her to watch Daisy weave between the agents towards her escape but she knew better than to force the agent into a corner. Daisy was going to do this, you could see it all over her face. It didn't matter what anyone said, if it wasn't for Jamie the inhuman probably would have asked more questions, even took the passenger seat but something stopped her. For the first time in her adult life Elena was settled, her job was complicated but worked the same could be said about her marriage. Her and Mack had brought a house, something she didn't want to lose no matter how much she was now considering it. 

The inhuman kept a constant pace, a steady speed as she went down the corridors, not fast enough to draw attention but not slow enough that people could recognise her, or that she would appear lost. With each turn the corridors were emptying out, she was seeing less lower level agents instantly glad she had taken Yo-Yos pass rather than the agent she was originally with. Daisy nodded to herself as she saw a large painted 4 on the side of an oversized warehouse door. As the door opened and the lights turned on as the reality of the size of the room came to realisation.   
"C,C,C" she spoke quickly to herself in a hushed tone like someone might hear here. She knew the warehouses wouldn’t be completely unwatched and the ex-agent didn’t want to chance it.  
Garage C was printed on one of the large metal doors towards the back of the warehouse. She couldn't help but look around the room quickly, really wishing she had factored in a trip to the armoury in her escape plan, not that she knew where the armoury was. The agent still tensed up when scanning the Lanyard. She knew it wouldn't be long until people noticed she was gone. Until May finished the briefing and was hunting for her.  
As she opened the doors the lights to the next room slipped on. She stopped slowly looking around.   
“Coulson must love it down here” she muttered to herself, her eyes briefly focusing on the plane shrapnel placed carefully on the floor. There were cars, most of which types she didn't recognise, some with SHIELD logos on others without. She was guessing they were all involved in active cases, the agent couldn't work out any other reason why half of this crap would be kept, other than for the directors own collection.

When she saw it she couldn't help but smile. The car reminded her of Robbie. She pulled off the triangle device from the front of the car and couldn’t help but do a small check of damages, it was something Robbie always did before he got into the vehicle. The inhuman let out a small sigh of relief when she checked the car and it was unlocked   
"Some rookie agent is getting fired for that mistake," she muttered to herself, the women still hadn't got used to working alone. Daisy missed Robbie by her side, when she first left she missed talking through cases with Mack or even that barely counts as small talk exchanges with May. Working alone wasn't something she enjoyed no matter what demeanour she put on.  
“Already committing treason, what’s a little grand theft auto,” She continued to mutter to herself, trying to keep her nerves under control as the agent racked her brain to remember how to hotwire a car. She started to pull at the wires before she looked up over the steering wheel and thought back to one of the many conversations she had had with her boyfriend about the Car.

_“Remember chica spare keys inside the passenger seat. Only drive if you have to! If there is no other option!,” She remembered the seriousness in Robbies face as he spoke, the one thing he never joked about was his car._   
_“It's like you don't trust me with her. I am a good driver!” Daisy remembers protesting weakly causing Robbie to smile before rolling his eyes and looking in his rear view mirror at the sleeping girl in the back seat._

Pulling herself out of a happy memory she lifted the cushion off the passenger seat to reveal a key.   
"Oh I love you Robbie," Daisy muttered as she put the key in the vehicle and after several attempts the engine ticked over.

She edged it slowly towards what looked like the exterior doors of the garage before swiping Yo-Yos badge one final time causing the metal doors to slide up revealing the open road. She dropped Yo-Yos badge on the floor before putting her foot on the gas and not looking back. She couldn't look back, if she did she knew she would park the car back up and read her daughter a story. She couldn't let herself do it.

\--- 

"How did she even get in here?" May asked Bobbi as the agents they were briefing exiting the room.  
"This is Daisy we are talking about," Bobbi felt the need to point out, trying not to think back to how adamant Daisy was to find Robbie. "It wouldn't surprise me if she had always been able to get out,"  
"We need to find her, before she does something stupid," The senior agent remarked trying to keep herself professional.   
"May" A knock on the door brought the women out of their conversation.  
"Daisy has left the base," Yo-Yo spoke calmly. "She took my ID," the agent added swiftly "I tried to stop her but she took off before I could talk any sense into her," Yo-Yo wished she had been able to give Daisy more time but she knew that her badge use would flag up eventually and she needed to try and keep her job.  
"Too late," Bobbi couldn't help but add, causing the senior agent to look at her in the same way everyone often looked at Hunter.  
"Where's Jamie?" May was kicking herself for not just running after Daisy when she first saw her.   
"Still with Fitz in the classroom," the inhuman confirmed.  
"Okay well she has a reason to return, maybe she just went for air," Bobbi tried to reason with herself. Elena didn't think now was the time to mention the last thing Quake had said to her was to look after Jamie or that she had given the inhuman the directions to Robbies fireproof car.  
May looked down at the screen in front of her.  
"Guess who's car has just been stolen from the warehouse?"  
"Ghostriders," Bobbi muttered before looking at Yo-Yo who looked suspiciously unsurprised.  
May nodded.  
"Do we know where she is going?" Bobbi asked, pulling up all the information Daisy had seen before her swift exit.  
"I am guessing she saw something in this that we didn't," May pulled the photos up trying not to grimace. She didn't mind death, but everyone in the room had met Gabe. They all knew what he had lost already and how well he was doing to become everything his brother wasn't, only for him to die in the same way.  
"Get Fitz to analyse the water mark on the paper, it might be nothing," May said, picking up her phone trying Coulson.  
Yo-Yo gulped and Bobbi simply nodded.

  
\---

Something about the old neighbour felt safe to Daisy. She had so many memories down the streets she was now driving though. It had been a long few hours on the road. Pulling into empty gas stations using the scraps of cash they hid in various places around the car. Keeping her head down. Most of the world now knew who she was so it was harder than ever but at least now she was seen as a hero by most. People didn't want to hurt her. The fear she had was different, she wasn't scared of the people around her for the first time since Lincoln's death she was scared of herself. 

After 4 hours on the road she was glad to be able to stretch her legs when she pulled into the car garage. Even when they had risked everything Robbie had still made Daisy bring newborn Jamie there to meet everyone, he had stopped working there shortly after, taking dead end jobs in other parts of town where no one knew his name. Where he could work cash in hand for several weeks before moving on. It was a sacrifice he always did to keep his daughter safe. 

6.30. So much for a dramatic entrance, but she was glad she got the chance to keep everyone safe.   
"If it isn’t Daisy Johnson," A familiar voice said as she opened the door to the shop.  
"Canelo," Daisy couldn't help but smile at the known face. She hadn't seen the man in over a year but he hadn't changed, she light blue shirt still didn't fit quite right and he always spoke like he was trying to impress.  
"It's been a while," He pulled the girl in for a hug.  
"I heard you're some hot shot spy. Kept that a secret," he laughed a little pulling the women away and looking at her outfit, the inhuman laughed back in awkwardness, "And was that Robbie's car I heard he must really be in the dog house if he's letting you drive," Daisy kept the force smile on her face as the man spoke.   
"Look I'm not here on a social call," she had to admit. "I need you and all your guys to get out of here now,"  
"Just when I thought I should put the kettle on," he muttered, taking the rag off from over his shoulder.  
"I assume you won't give me any more information," He asked the women. From his casual tone, Daisy presumed he hadn’t seen the news, not that Gabe had been identified to the mainstream media yet.  
"No but I will let you have a look under the hood of Robbie's car next time I'm in town," While the man noticed there was no mention of Robbie, he didn’t want to comment.   
"Wow you must be really desperate," he kept the laugh in his voice, Daisy had missed this part of their lifestyle. The small circle of people who didn't ask too many questions, who didn't want to know the answers to the ones they asked. The underlying level of trust that wasn't a thing at SHIELD, not anymore.

"This is a special place for me and Robbie," she spoke through gritted teeth looking around at the place that hadn’t changed in years.  
"And just with everything that's going on," She purposely let her voice trail off; it wasn’t a lie she wouldn’t blatantly lie to the man that gave her and her family a lot without asking questions, but she couldn’t tell him the truth. He already knew more than most about her family, she couldn’t risk anyone knowing that.  
"Okay, okay. I have to take the truck anyway. You will lock up right?" He asked as she smiled sweetly then nodded. "And leave the keys in the usual spot," Daisy added reassuring the man.  
"Still can't believe you are a spy, one with powers no less. How Robbie ever got you I will never understand," Canelo couldn’t help but remark, shaking his head a little before throwing Quake the keys.   
"I expect to see you all in the summer. You know my Rosa loves a large get together,"  
"Your on," Daisy let her fake smile appear once more. She had only gone to one of Canelos' get togethers. She was very pregnant and didn’t remember that much of it; it was part of her life she stored away in the locked part of her mind. It was nice to see Robbie being Robbie rather than Ghostrider, she remembered that much. He spent the afternoon not very casually protective over Gabe as he was talking to one of the neighbourhood girls about some school project.

To the people in this neighbourhood they were just Daisy and Robbie, there were no lies, no fake names, it was easy. Leaving this side was the hardest move they had ever done but Daisy got more paranoid after Jamie was born, went from trusting a select few to trusting no one, assuming everyone was a threat until proved otherwise, Robbie would often point out they never stayed long enough for anyone to be able to prove themselves. 

"What time do you call this," She yelled confidently as the doors opened, she had located 2 small pistols in the office. Not much spare ammo but enough to calm her nerves a little, she couldn’t help but attempt to Quake one of the tables while she was waiting, just to check she still had it in her, to check the Gauntlets didn’t stop it all. She did and they didn’t.   
"If it isn't Agent Daisy Johnson, how did you pull that," A man replied, venom in his voice. Daisy clocked 4 men but she doubted they were travelling this lightly.   
"Undercover works a bitch," Quake forced a fake smile on her face. She had moved Robbie's car safely out of her firing line, knowing that he would haunt her if she shot his car.   
"Hows Jamie? Recovering from the sudden loss of her uncle," the man's voice etched into her bones.   
Before Daisy could even formulate a reply she quaked the man back.   
"Don't you ever talk about my daughter," 

The remaining men raised their weapons and prepared to shoot before she knocked 2 of them back with her ungunned hand, she dropped the weapon before facing off in close combat with the 4th. He didn't look much older than 20 and for the first time she looked an enemy in the eye and wondered what he had lost to be there against her. Who got to him, what they told him to make him believe that the watchdogs were the good guys. That killing an innocent teenager was the way forward. 

"You brought me here. What do you want?" She asked the main man pulling the second pistol out of her back and firing several shots in the directions of the 2 men on the floor before pointing a gun firmly at him.  
"You caused endless pain, killed hundreds and you get a medal of honour," the man simply remarked, pushing Daisy back using brute force. He had the same sort of build as the man from the hotel, the same presence but tonight's opponent was definitely taller. The inhuman stumbled back a few paces, trying not to get distracted by the conversation she had had with May the first time she was given access to the gym. Her head was pounding with thoughts. Regrets. Memories she wished she would have forgotten.   
“You’ve become too reliant on your powers,”  
As she snapped herself out of it, she didn’t have time to decide to be a standard shield agent, right now she needed answers. Revenge. Quake would always give her that.  
"I did my job," Daisy lied through her teeth. Aiming another blast at the watchdog agent.   
"Quake is all you will ever be," the man spat out blood as she set a few punches to his face before he took a swing back. Daisy hated how much truth there was in the mans words. 

"Tonight was just a courtesy call. A warning to remind you that while you're untouchable, the people you love are not. You are not the Johnson we want. Your daughter is much more powerful" He pulled his gun before the young lad from the floor shot twice at the agent neither of them deadly but they did knock her back a few paces, she gritted her teeth as the pain spread through her quickly. A sudden gush of pain jolted throughout the agent's body. Her stomach ached, her arms lost tension and her legs began to weaken. "Will not get the better of me,” Her words silent as she dropped to the ground. The inhumans tongue was soaked in the taste of blood. Bruised and winded, with her body now in agony, she grabbed the foot of the man who was talking and pulled him to the ground. She didn’t even look as he fell, she didn’t have time to shoot him. Her head was pounding, the world appearing too loud. Without thinking she brought her fist to the young man who shot, punching long after he continued to fight back. Quaking the talking man back again as he life started to reappear in his voice. While the altercation took minutes she could have been living it in slow motion. Any thoughts she had about the young lads family irradiated instantly as she pulled herself up, shooting him with the final round bullet in the first pistol. Before grabbing the second from her back and aiming it at the still alive unnamed man. The man who knew too much.  
"Keep him alive," she continued to repeat to herself like it was helping her keep the moral high ground when there were 3 dead people around her.   
"If you kill me, you will never get justice for your precious little family," If the man was in pain he didn’t appear to show it, he had as much blood on him as Daisy but his words still oozed confidence. Arogrence. The watchdog knew he was taunting the women, playing both sides. The watchdogs had been tracking Quake for years but with Hydra knowledge of Agent Johnson, they now knew everything, each party had spent years putting the pieces together, finding her weak spot. When she left SHIELD they had to start all over again, no one expected her to have a family. For them to be her downfall.  
"Why don't you just kill me?"  
"Killing you would take out half the fun," The man replied, grabbing a wrech and heading towards the agent. He was clearly in pain, Daisy couldn’t believe how much of a battering the watchdog was taking.  
"See we don't want you dead" He spat at her as she douged his attack, knocking the tool out of his hand.   
"We want you to suffer, to live knowing everyone you love is dying at your hands," Daisy wasn't sure why that was the part that set her off but the ex-agent forced her bleeding body to push him back into one of the work benches, it was an old school move she had witnessed May do hundreds of time, using a wall as leverage and your body weight as force. The self defence lesson came rushing back to the inhuman before she could bring her hand up to quake him.  
Before Daisy could fire another shot. The man went down, the blue around the wound made her look up to see Agent May standing in the doorway.  
"I had it covered," were all the words Daisy could muster. As she let herself stop,take a breath, letting her body register the beating she had just taken. She was glad she took the bone repair pills before leaving the office.  
"Course you did," May nodded before checking the pulses of the 3 obviously dead guys on the floor.  
"Calanos is going to kill me for the amount of blood on his floor," Daisy looked around spitting out a small amount of blood from her mouth, trying to mask the pain she was in.  
"You were shot," May was staring at the girl, she didn’t care about the blood on the floor she cared about Daisy.  
"Just a scratch," The inhuman winched a little surprised she wasn't already in handcuffs.   
“With a bullet,” 

"Area clear," Another familiar voice said, breaking up the conversation between the senior agents and inhuman.   
"If it isn't my babysitters," Daisy attempted to use humour to hide the pain she was in. Hunter rolled his eyes before eyeing up the girl for injuries.   
Nothing else was said as Hunter shot the iced man with several more icers before preparing to move the man, handcuffing the limp body.   
"Ready to move," he simply stated while May was standing staring at the inhuman waiting for the woman to admit she was in pain and needed help.  
"I will call it in, get this cleared up," The English man continued looking around the room unsure on how to describe what he was seeing, it didn't look like a fight more like Agent Johnson had decided now was the time for a mass shooting.  
"I need to lock up on my way out," Daisy added, walking slowly towards the door holding her side as she did so.  
"There are bodies on the floor,"  
"The man has rules, I don't want to piss him off now. He might take me off his BBQ invite list," Daisy attempted to shrug trying again with the humour, this time it caused Hunter to break a smile, mainly because it reminded him of something he would say when trying to hide the amount of pain he was in. 

\---

"What you did tonight was stupid and dangerous," May was standing over her as Simmons removed a bullet from her side,  
Daisy winced in pain but didn’t reply. She was propped upright and actively avoiding eye contact.  
"You have to stop with this death wish!" May reprimanded causing the agent to look up for the first time since they boarded.  
"It's not-" Daisy's sentence was cut off by the senior agent who for the first time had more to say.  
"Don't tell me this stunt not wasn't a suicide mission! You had no idea what you were walking into, who would be there. It could have been rigged to explode,"   
"It didn't," Daisy pointed out through gritted teeth as she was being stitched up.   
"You walked into a trap!"  
"They killed Gabe," Daisy's voice softened. She didn't have it in her to be angry or to show rage; she was still grateful to not be in handcuffs. "And they are going to keep killing people I care about until I give them Jamie," Her words were like fire to the agents on the quinjet but her voice trailed off as she caught her breath,  
"We are taking him to our base where my sleeping daughter is, the one thing they want will be closer than ever," Daisy looked over to the handcuffed man with a bag over his head, he was still unconscious but it didn’t put her at ease.  
"You didn't care about her that much when you stole a car-," May snapped, in a way everyone had only seen her do to Daisy. It wasn’t the cold, harsh, aloof tone she used with new recruits that needed to be scared. There was fear in the anger, pain even.  
"My car," Daisy corrected under her breath as the senior agent kept talking.  
"- And a high level pass, hacked into the SHIELD servers and then broke out," In another time, in a different conversation Daisy would have felt the need to correct the senior agent on the order of the events that had taken place during the day but something stopped the inhuman, and it wasn’t just the pain she was in.  
"Everything I do is for her," Her replies were weak as Simmons was strapping yet another part of the ex-agent's body.  
"Then act like it!" May snapped before heading back to the cockpit. She needed the silence. She needed to go back into Agent mode, something the woman was struggling with more and more especially when Daisy was around. Ever since Daisy had returned Melinda knew she was mothering the adult. She was trying not too but having Daisy back in her life brought out the side that only the inhuman could. An, if somewhat passive aggressive and dysfunctional caring side. She was getting as bad as Coulson when it came to the ex-agent. Not that the senior agent would ever admit it, but this time she thinks she was worse than Coulson. 

Neither her or the current Director could be professional or rational when it came to Daisy but as she put the plane into landing mode she couldn't help but wonder if that was a bad thing. Coulson had tried to keep it professional and ended up turning into another version of himself whenever he had to make any Daisy related decisions and May wasn't even sure who she became. They knew they weren’t Daisy's biological parents but they weren’t her friends either. The relationship was always more than that, May even now knew that the girl she wanted to kill in the back of her quinjet was her daughter and that wasn’t rational. The protectiveness she felt for the girl, that wasn’t something she learnt from the academy, it was instinct. Even now. 

"All done for you," Simmons said, giving Daisy a Tshirt to put on as even the scientist decided putting back on the tactical gear was too much strain on the inhumans body. She then silently fisted two painkillers into Daisys hand and glared at her until they were washed down with water. Daisy wanted to resist, she didn't mind the pain but something stopped her, for the first time since she left she didn't mind the help.  
"Thanks," Daisy replied, still clutching her side a little before putting the shirt on. She looked down at the Quinjet at the black car, there was a small chip in the back from where she had hit the bins when parking but other than that Robbie would have never known she used it. He would have definitely spotted the paint chip.

"At least we got the guy that killed Gabe," she muttered looking at the passed out man handcuffed on the floor of the jet.  
"I'm sorry about Gabe," Jemma said quietly, putting her medbag on the floor and pulling herself up next to Daisy.  
"Yeah me too. He was such a good kid. Didn’t deserve any of this crap," Daisy let herself talk openly about her Brother-in-law, or the closest thing she would ever have to one.  
"He was bright too. Last time he came to base he was talking to Fitz about a water powered hydraulic mechanism," Jemma’s voice was soft.   
"I'm going to pretend I know what that means," Daisy let herself laugh like it was just the end of any old mission, she avoided thinking too much about the man that lay on the floor knowing damn well she would kill him if he ever showed sighed of movement. He didn't deserve a trial, he deserved to die the same way Gabe did, scared powerless and alone. If Daisy wasn't under SHIELDS thumb anymore she would take the body to the watchdogs directly, message attached and all. But now he was just going to be one another one of those watchdog agents that couldn't really hack it and he will just be wiped off the list.   
"He used to do this thing when he would babysit Jamie where he would move the time forward by 30 minutes, so she would get to stay up later without actually having to stay up,"  
Jemma smiled, this was one of the first times Daisy had opened up to her since she had returned; even if it wasn't at an ideal time she wasn't going to interrupt now. While her and the inhuman was basically back like nothing had changed Daisy was still guarded about what she said. Her and Jemma had regained the ability to talk for hours but Simmons would often come away from it realising the ex-agent had said nothing of value.   
"Jamie had caught on but told me that she played along for Gabes sake,". There was a shake in Daisy's voice, she couldn't tell whether it was the pain from being shot or just the general stress of the day but it was noticeable.   
"She's going to be devastated," Daisy broke the silence again, thinking of all her child had lost because of her. All the pain she was putting her daughter through by trying to do it all.   
"It could have been worse.” There was a long pause between Jemma's words as if she hoped Daisy would self complete the rest of the sentence. “She could have lost you too," Jemma finished, putting her hand on the agents.  
"I think she already has," Daisy admitted into the silence it was barely audible yet heard by everyone on the jet. The inhuman then closed her eyes letting the darkness take her over. For the first time all day she let herself process with something other than anger. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any spelling mistakes. Enjoy :)

"Tell me not to worry," he paced the room. Silently wishing he was on the quinjet rather than waiting for the return of his friends. He wasn’t sure on the facts that lead to Daisy walking out, Yo-Yo wasn’t saying much, nothing but confirming what they could all witness on the CCTV. He knew there was more but he also knew that his wife   
"Honestly Mack don't worry I'm fine,"  
"I know your lying but I appreciate it,"   
Yo-Yo let out an exhausted smile, most of it filled with regret.   
"Would you have gone?"  
Mack looked over at his wife one more time, stopping in his tracks.  
"If you were me," She added like it made the question clearer.  
"If I were you," The larger agent started to think, "then I would have probably put her in a cell when she came anywhere near my lanyard," As the words left his mouth, he wasn’t convinced he would. He wasn’t sure he would have helped the inhuman but maybe he wouldn’t have noticed the badge was missing. He honestly couldn’t say with certainty.   
"Like you could put her in a cell," Yo-Yo forced her voice to lighten, trying not to think of the inhuman who was now on route back to HQ with May, Hunter and Simmons. They had already heard that she was shot but would be fine, Yo-Yo couldn't help but wonder when that sort of phase had been comforting.   
Mack couldn't help but smile, the kind of smile that only Elena could bring out of him, the normal smile.   
"Do you think she's going to be okay?"  
"I know that Coulson hasn't got a cell with her name on" Mack pulled his wife into her deep hold.   
"Yet," Yo-Yo muttered into her husband's chest as they waited for more information. 

\---

The inhuman felt the plane begin to descend before she dared open her eyes again, she hadn't slept they all knew that much but it didn't do her any harm to close her eyes and zone out.   
May wished she knew what the plan was with Daisy but Coulson hadn't got back to base before her, Hunter and Simmons had caught the lead and had headed out to find her. They had exchanged a few messages but he was busy doing director work and she was busy protecting their daughter.   
"This is SHIELD unit six seven nine requesting permission to land," the senior agent spoke through the comms, pulling into the base.  
"Permission granted Ma'am" May took a deep breath briefly glancing at Hunter. Over the years the pair had developed a mutual understanding and in their own unique way respected each other, neither of them would consider themselves friends but would save each other in a heartbeat. The senior agent took a deep breath before lowering the plane into a landing bay. Compared to how it all was when Hunter first met Coulson and the team he was always surprised by how professional it appeared now.   
"Time for debrief Agent Johnson," May ordered as the hanger doors opened and they prepared to exit the plane,  
"Why do I have a feeling my debrief may mean a cell," Daisy muttered pushing herself up off the seat letting out a hiss in pain as she did so. As her body started to heal everything hurt, she could feel every particle of her body shaking as it was trying to repair yet more self-inflicted damage.  
Several fully armed men entered the plane as they started to walk off, the inhuman let out a small sigh of relief when they walked passed her and didn’t detain or shoot in her direction. May said a few words to them as they placed a bag over the unconscious man and prepared him for extraction. 

They walked into the main part of the base, even at well past midnight there were still people wandering around. Daisy forgot that SHIELD never stopped. Most people were in tactical gear; she guessed the office staff had long gone home. The inhuman forgot how much bigger SHIELD was than when she left. There were missions, rescue and otherwise going on all the time.

Daisy walked in silence conveniently placed between Hunter and May. Simmons had gone to find her husband who was waiting to go home. To leave the base and head back to their apartment, where they could sleep by each other's side rather than power naps on the single bunks they had been given. While Daisy wished the scientist could have stayed by her side she didn't blame the women for leaving, before Daisy had returned to SHIELD Fitzsimmons fieldwork was minimal and on the fast track to be phased out completely then the inhuman had stormed back in and changed everything. It was obvious that Daisy didn't trust anyone new and the Director wasn't sure who he trusted to fix up the inhuman so Jemma had to stick around. The work on the Gauntlets as well as other inhuman tech was always Fitz's specialty, something he was slowly teaching to other scientists, other agents. But no one was as good as Fitzsimmons. Everyone only wanted the best for Daisy so there they were making the 60-minute commute into Head Office every day, in exchange for only an allocated parking space and better tea bags.

Even out of handcuffs Daisy didn't know how much her old team had given up since they collected her, since they saved her and her daughter. Yo-Yo had taken a large step back in order to keep an eye on Jamie, Mack subtly doing the same. May and Coulson had been arguing more than they had done in years, not always so subtly either. May had been home less than a dozen times in the months since they had pulled Daisy away from death. Coulson not much more. Both really glad they never went through with the rescue dog Fitz and Hunter had nearly convinced them to get. 

"Bobbi is with the team in room 1" Hunter spoke, briefly looking down at his phone as they were walking, no one said anything. He took that as a level of understanding and kept walking. Daisy was slower on her feet than normal, neither of them commented on it but they knew she must have been in agony.  
They walked into the same large comms room Daisy had snuck into earlier, this time people were expecting her. One of her arms was still firmly wrapped around her front holding her side. The inhuman actually appreciated the cool metal of her Gauntlets against her burning up skin. She knew she must have looked rough but the agents didn't seem to mind, they probably hadn't ever seen her look well she admitted to herself.  
There was a brief clap as they entered which neither of the official agents seemed to take any notice of but took the inhuman by surprise. Bobbi was standing at the front of the room but pulled herself onto a chair when she had made eye contact with her ex.   
May walked to the front where Bobbi was now sitting holding her crutches with one hand. 

May, still in silence, pulled up the case file before pulling out some photos that must have been taken by the recovery team after they had got Daisy and the captive onto their quinjet. It was of the bodies Daisy had left, she gulped before realizing a whole SHIELD team at the garage would not have been good for his business. Mentally noting that giving the repair shop an apology phone call was now on her list of demands to give the director when she was carted back to her old containment module. Mays silence used to be comforting to the ex-agent, it stopped scaring her years ago. The lack of words always spoke for itself. In the evenings after she went through the mist it made her feel at home no matter what was happening but this silence was different, it was tense almost yelling at the inhuman through the office air gnawing at her already broken insides.

  
"We have identified the 3 men pictured. Their bodies have been taken to the labs for further analysis." Someone in a lab coat finally spoke, pulling the room away from looking at the battered agent.   
"All with simple bullet wounds, 2 appear to be done with a 44 and the other with a 35,” He pulled up another photo, these ones appearing to have come from the morgue, Daisy couldn’t help but question how they got the bodies here quicker than they had arrived. Unknown to the agent, May had driven the Quinjet around the area several times to give Daisy just 30 more minutes to peace before reality came crashing down around the women again.  
“Two of them appear to have wounds linked to hand to hand combat, but all-cause of deaths still appearing to be gunshot wounds, but we are still waiting for the official medical reports." He continued. The inhuman wasn’t sure if the unknown SHIELD scientist was aware that she had inflicted all the damage and was just playing ignorance or if that wasn’t going to be common knowledge.   
"The 4th man we have yet to identify,"   
"Well, we currently have him heading to the hold for questioning," Hunter pointed out cutting off the scientist, "So hopefully he can give us something,"  
"And you think these are the men who killed the Gabe boy?" A different female agent asked. Daisy vaguely recognized her from when she broke into the original briefing the previous morning. May looked over at Daisy hinting it was her time to speak.  
"It would appear so," Daisy replied uncomfortably, causing the room to once again focus on her.  
"They needed to kill someone that would draw my attention, someone that I would risk everything for," She said slowly looking down at the ground. "If he didn't kill Gabe they know who did and that's enough to hold him." She continued not going back to the personal admission she had accidentally made.  
"Agent Johnson made more progress in 8 hours than a team of 12 did," Bobbi snapped, drawing their attention back onto the photographs, pulling a photo of Gabe up she had found from Daisy’s collection, causing the room to fall into silence.

"You people are meant to be the best of the best in regards to the watchdogs yet someone got butchered and placed in public view without any of you catching on," She was exhausted and felt the need to show her power now she was unable to stand.  
"We need more information, we need to identify the man in the hold and we need something on him. We need to locate the cell that all of these men were under and we needed that information yesterday. Call your wives, Girlfriends, Husbands whoever you need to call, no one is leaving base until we know everything about these men," May continued from the blonde woman as she pulled up the photo she had taken from the quinjet. This time of the alive watchdog agent. The agents simply nodded a few jotting small bits of information down but most just staring at the various higher ups in the room. While the exact tie to Daisy was still unknown the lower-level agents knew it must be something big to cause 4 high clearance agents to enter one room for a mission debrief and assessment. May and Bobbi weren't known to work together and Hunter was very rarely placed within a large team set up.  
  
"You are level 5 and 6 agents for christ sake. Give us something!" Bobbi pulled herself up and spoke loudly before hinting that the conversation was very much over. Daisy moved herself out the way of the door as the strangers exited. It was all over pretty much as soon as it had begun, part of her was grateful there wasn’t too much information to share, the other part of her wished she could play agent for a few minutes longer.

  
Daisy knew Bobbi had the ability to be terrifying, she vaguely remembered hearing stories from Jemma when they had returned from Hydra years ago, but until she witnessed it again she had forgotten the blonde woman's power to take over an entire room with not many more words than May. May was a legend, people wanted to work with her, that was always a goal within the organization but Agent Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter were high ranking agents that disappeared and reappeared with a moment's notice. Very few people had ever worked with them but they had connections people dreamed of.   
  
"You are having a proper medical in the morning," May ordered, pulling Daisy subtly by the t-shirt as they left the room.  
"You're not going to arrest me?" Daisy couldn't help but ask given the history of recent events.  
May stopped for a second and looked the women in the eyes before fully understanding that wasn’t in any way meant to be a joke.  
"Not this time, but don't you think for a second that you are off the hook,"   
"I’m so glad you didn't raise me as a teenager I would have spent so much time grounded," Daisy said trying to take still being out of handcuffs as a victory  
"Now I get to ground a 20something. Which is somehow worse," May let a brief smile leave her lips. She had forgotten how exhausting but rewarding it was to be Daisy's Mom but even now she knew she wouldn't change it for the world.   
"How did you know where to find me?" Daisy asked May, as she opened the door back to the underground where she had been residing.  
"IDed the logo from the paper," May admitted.   
"So I don't have a GPS chip, good to know," Daisy winched a little each time she took a step down the stairs. They both knew what she was trying to do, how she was trying to hide her pain.   
"We did until you cut it off with a butchers knife,” May raised her eyebrows as she spoke,   
"Is Coulson going to kill me?"  
"You can ask him yourself," She nodded causing Daisy to look into the darkened empty hallway where the Director was standing. 

* * *

"Cut the crap Daisy," Coulson said, finally saying something when they had gone into the empty office he had claimed as his own in the locked part of the facility. His main director's office was nice, it was central. People could find him, it was the home to all his gadgets but since Daisy and Jamie he liked the smaller hotdesk that was hidden away. It meant he could have Jamie sat on the sofa playing a game while he answered emails, he would leave the door slightly ajared while Mack and Fitz raced with the girl and a homemade toy car. In his little hidden away spare office Coulson was able to hear his family, that's why he liked it.   
"We have protocols here,"  
"Was it protocol that I found out Gabe died because of the news? Was it protocol to have a whole team looking into it while I am trapped like some prisoner."  
"Daisy that's not, your not-" Then there was silence,   
"I am a prisoner,” Daisy spoke sharply, “I might be out of the SHIELD issued jumpsuit but in your eyes and everyone else's down here I am some ruthless murderer even if to the outside world I'm now some hero!"   
"Protocols in place are to keep Agents safe," Coulson was calm, he told himself he wasn’t going to raise his voice with her. That it wouldn’t solve anything to get mad, he needed to understand.  
“I am not an agent!" She snapped at him now completely avoiding eye contact; she didn't need to see disappointment in his eyes, she didn't need reminding that she had become everything she used to hate, everything against what SHIELD used to stand for. She had killed 2 people that probably didn't deserve to die, they hadn't even attempted to shoot her and they were now in a morgue, the 3rd guy she felt like she could justify but as she looked around at the SHIELD logo on the wall or plastered over the shirt even after it all she was no longer sure. She hadn’t thought about any watchdog agent she had killed, she knew they deserved it but then again she never had to face Coulson right after.

"Doesn't mean I am going to let you die!" Coulson snapped back now standing he was looking at his daughter even if she wasn't looking at him.  
"You should have been notified, you would have been notified," Coulson tried to reassure as he slowed down his voice making sure each word was clear and understood.   
"We had to make sure it was even him, and not some trap," He continued. The inhuman didn’t have any words but she was listening, the silent subtle glancing between Melinda May and Phil Coulson told them both that that alone was a little victory for their family.   
"I should have come and told you as soon as we got the call but I didn't. I went to do my job. We went to keep you safe,"   
"I don't feel very safe," Daisy admitted. Coulson was instantly sure that was the first time she had been completely honest with him since she had arrived.  
"Robbie is dead or God knows where.” Daisy looked up to face him just for a moment, “Gabe is dead. I would hand myself to them in a heartbeat if it would stop it all but they don’t even want me; they are hunting everyone I care about. They want Jamie!"  
"The outside world doesn't know about Jamie?" Coulson asked, trying to pretend Daisy’s words didn’t worry him greatly, looking between his family members in the office. "She's not in any report, her name doesn't exist,"  
The inhuman looked around briefly doing her usual swift checks of the entrances and exits before talking.  
"When the building collapsed, the one that started all this. I think Robbie was taken, the guy from the hotel bombing said that he got information out of him," Daisy kept the shake from her voice.   
"The garage from tonight, Robbie used to work there, through it all they were good to us." Daisy let herself fall back into the chair feeling like a little kid who had been caught out in a lie.  
"The only way they would know all this would be if they had Robbie," Daisy continued.  
"You were hoping he was going to be there tonight?" The director asked finally putting the pieces together, even now Daisy was trying to find her family. Trying to put together the impossible pieces.   
"I honestly had no idea." Daisy let herself calm for a moment, "But they killed Gabe, you met him. He wasn't a soldier, he didn't have a violent bone in his body and yet they put a bullet in his chest then made him some political statement." the inhuman could feel her hands starting to shake but the room was still standing.   
"Daisy you should have come to us," May said, bringing herself forward into the conversation.  
"Why would I?"  
"We are here to help,"  
"No you're not, you're here to make sure I pay my debt to SHIELD." She looked up at the women before turning to Coulson who couldn't hide the shocked look from his face.  
"I know I am no more than an asset to you, you have made that perfectly clear. Now if you are going to punish me or lock me back in that box please do it. I am exhausted, I’ve been shot and would like to mourn the death of my family in peace," there was anger in the ex-agents voice but more obvious than all that was pain. The Director couldn't help but catch his breath. Was that all Daisy really thought? His internal monologue was running at the speed of light while his brain attempted to put together a string of words in reply. 

"Go to your bunk," He said defeatedly, sitting himself back down. He didn't want to lock her up again, that wasn't going to help anyone. He loved the girl, but he just had a funny way of caring. Both him and Melinda did, but he couldn't help but worry about the damage that had already been done.  
"We will deal with it in the morning," He continued, "But let me make this clear Daisy you are not to get yourself killed in the name of vengeance,"   
She nodded silently while thinking to herself that it wasn't vengeance in the slightest. The exit was silent, she wasn’t sure she deserved her bunk at least when they caged her the inhuman knew where she stood. She wasn’t sure she liked limbo very much. 

"I'm sorry Phil, I know you wanted this to work out,"   
"You know, I don’t even want an apology. I just want her to be happy, to be safe." He looked at the women he loves in the eyes, thinking of everything he had said to his daughter, to the girl he would die for. Thinking back to every time he should have brought her in for a hug but he didn't, all the times he should have seen her but he just sat outside in silence, "And if- If I have to be the bad guy to make that happen, then so be it.”

\---

"You were meant to be taking it easy"  
"I am!" The women protested keeping eye contact with him.  
"You have had that boot off your leg less than a day and you're running an Op with May!"   
"I hardly went into the field"  
"But you would of." The English man snapped back "If they needed a pilot today would you have gone?" His question was very much rhetorical because they both knew the answer.   
"Hunter calm down. No need for the voice,"  
"This is my voice when I am talking to an unreasonable person!" He snapped back knowing they had had this conversation word for word at least a dozen times since they last got married.  
"I'm not being unreasonable. I'm being an agent,"  
"Well stop," He wanted to turn and walk away, the way he used to solve so many of their arguments but something stopped him.  
"I will go back out into the field," she stated.  
"No you won't," He replied harshly. "I don't know if we listened to two very different doctors, but you won't," he snapped back again before realising maybe his voice did have a tone.  
"Doctors have been wrong before,"   
"Bob listen to me." He stepped closer to the woman who was still sitting on the stool.  
"I love you," he couldn't help but start with those words causing her to roll her eyes, it wasn't meant to but it instantly softened the mood.  
"But you need to let your body recover. You can't ignore what the specialist said no matter how shit the news, and you can't keep going on like it didn't happen." His voice was instantly calmer in tone. "I get today was personal for everyone, with Gabe and Daisy but everything has the ability to be personal if you let it,"  
"When did you get so wise," She forced a smile onto her face, she couldn’t help but love the over protective side of her ex even if it made her want to kill him 90% of the time.  
"I married a know it all, had to step up my game," He smiled before planting a kiss on her lips.  
"Oh yeah and how did that work out?" She smirked as they kissed again  
"I mean, ended in divorce," 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had an ending but have decided I hate it so bare with me while I figure it out

"Jamies been asking for you," A knock on the door caught Daisy by surprise. The agent wasn't even sure of the time. Her night had been filled with tossing and turning. Sadness followed by anger and then confusion. She didn't have any answers, any solutions. Nothing she could do would fix her perfect little family and that didn't sit right with her.  
"Tell her I'm sick again," Daisy snapped Harshly. She wasn't used to having people in her corner anymore, she was used to putting on a brave face and doing it alone. Now she didn't have to the walls were crumbling.  
  
"Have you been down to medical this morning?" Jemma asked, noticing the small amount of blood showing from under the t-shirt Daisy had been wearing.  
Daisy looked up at the women but didn't need to say anything, Jemma knew she was the only person Daisy trusted enough to go anywhere near her with any sort of medical equipment and Jemma had been teaching basic science to the 4-year-old since the crack of Dawn.   
"Pull your t-shirt up, I think you have broken your stitches," Simmons changed her tone. Daisy sat herself upright not making another sound and lifted her T-shirt up slowly.  
"I am going to get a med-bag," Jemma replied knowing that the inhuman would be getting put on bed rest.   
Jemma repaired the wound in silence letting Daisy grit her teeth through the pain, the inhuman didn't flinch like she used to, it was obvious it still hurt but Daisy couldn't help but become numb to it all.

* * *

"I'm worried about Daisy," Jemma broke the silence, thinking back to restitching her friend up.  
"Worried about her? You are aware of what she did yesterday?" Fitz asked looking up from the prototype he was working on.  
"I'm being serious, you should have heard the way she was talking,"  
"You think?" It was all he needed to ask, Jemma just nodded before letting her husband pull her in tightly.   
"She's not going anywhere Jemma, she is safe here. We are making sure of that." He stated changing his tone of voice as he spoke. Holding his wife letting her feel everything she had been holding back.  
"But then what?"   
Fitz pulled away trying to work out what he was missing.  
"We all pitch in and secretly raise a child on base. Hoping and praying that even though she is surrounded by secrets and lies she turns out okay," Jemma's voice was starting to wobble. She had done everything Coulson had asked of her, patched up her old friend in silence, without asking too many questions. She stayed on base got up in the early hours when a sobbing 4-year-old wouldn’t settle, they had all pitched in, each one of them letting their lives change overnight but the longevity of the current situation   
"She's going to notice sooner or later that she doesn't go into the outside world without more security and planning than the average president." 

Fitz listened to his wife in silence. He wished he had an answer or some science equation that would make it better, that would take away her pain.   
"She wouldn't even see Jamie this morning," The doctor pushed herself away from the man she loved and continued to stare into the medical supplies.   
Fitz didn't have an answer and Jemma didn't want to hear one even if he did, she just needed to talk to someone. To panic about her best friend in peace. To let herself be taken over by fear just for a single moment before she forced herself back into reality. 

Fitz knew what Coulson was planning and he wanted to tell his wife, wanted to let her know that he had a plan. That Daisy wasn't going to be stuck in this box forever. That he didn't want that for the ex-agent. He didn't want the person Daisy feared she was to become the person she became, but he didn't he just held her. Let her worry about all the things she couldn't control because that's what he needed to do.

\---

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned to have the life that is waiting for us." Daisy looked up from the floor for a second as the voice spoke.  
"Joseph Campbell" he added over the silence.  
"Is that your polite way of telling me to get my head out my ass and follow the rules because I think that ship has long since sailed,"  
"No, it's my way of telling you that you couldn't have prevented what happened,"  
"He should have been here, I should have forced him to stay,"   
"We both know that wouldn't have worked,"  
"So I should just accept that someone is killing off my family for sport?"  
"Daisy,"  
"I get your trying to help Mack, I really do but nothing is going to stop me from feeling guilty that yet another person died because I am wearing a SHIELD issued uniform,"  
He wanted to pull the girl in for a hug, to hold the shorter women like he used to do, to show her that he had her back through it all, but they both knew she would just finch away.   
"You couldn't have changed this,"  
"You really think they would have pinned him to the front of the triskelion if I hadn't come back here," She looked around at the concrete walls trying to remember all the laughs she had on the bus, all the adventures her old team had had but as she held herself together she couldn't remember one. Each thought of her old days was tainted with the destruction that followed.

"I really think you would have died if you hadn't come back here," The agent match her bass tone as he used to do when she needed some tough love, he paused for a moment trying and failing to gain back eye contact with the ex-agent, "in-fact I saw you when you arrived back there is no think about it,"  
There were yet more tears in her eyes but she didn't let them fall from her cheek. Mack knew what the woman was like when she left, she had heard from Bobbi what Daisy had said to Fitz on the quinjet, they all couldn't help but be mentally scarred by the women they say wasted away before running off 5 years before. The problem was none of them were sure how to prevent it from happening again.   
Mack couldn't help but constantly wonder what was going through the Inhumans mind, was it back to the dark place from all those years ago? He hoped not, he prayed it wasn't. They all hoped that Jamie May was enough of a light but after the events of the previous day they weren't so sure.   
"We will catch everyone involved in this Daisy," He sat down in the chair next to the medbay.   
"They don't need to be caught," Daisy looked up again, there was rage in her voice but pain in her eyes,  
"They need to suffer," She grit her teeth.

  
"We got the name of the man you caught," He let out a small breath to keep his tone calm.   
"One Kingsley Tyler," He continued as Daisy pulled herself together.  
"He's ex-Hydra turned gun for hire until 7 months ago, where he appeared to take a liking to inhuman hunting and formed an agreement with the watchdogs. We think he is one of the links between the hydra gear we found at the hotel and the watchdogs."  
"Why are you telling me this? It's not my case," She looked up at him again, she was still in survival mode. Mack knew she had turned down the chance to see Jamie today.   
"Because it was your family. I would want to know what son of a bitch killed my kids' uncle,"   
Daisy smiled a brief but real smile.   
"Thank you," Her voice instantly quietened as she absorbed the information, for the first time since she heard the news about Gabe she stopped feeling angry, it was only for mere seconds but she couldn't help but feel it. No anger, just sadness. 

"Daisy," He said putting his hand on hers just for a moment,   
"I will find the sons of bitches that hurt you, every last one of them. Watchdog or not but you have to trust us," The agent paused for a moment trying to read her emotionless expression.  
"Trust me to find them,"   
"No one else needs to die for me," Daisy let herself catch eye contact with the large man so he knew what she was feeling.  
"No one else will," His answer was sharp but the inhuman couldn't help but trust the statement. She truly believed that he didn't see it as a suicide mission, that he wasn't going to risk it all for her. She couldn't help but find it almost comforting. 

\-----  
  


"It’s just a temporary fix, a short term solution,"  
"It doesn't seem to be fixing anything," The blonde agent said, launching one of her crutches across the room.   
"No need to take it out on the walls love," Her ex-husband's voice was calm but he was talking through gritted teeth.  
"It's not like I can take it out on a punching bag is it," she snapped back.   
It wasn't her injury that was getting to her, she was just relieved she had something to blame for her anger. Something rational, something no one would question. It made it easier, in truth she was angry at the system, the same system she had protected with her lifetime after time. 

  
"Can you give us a minute?" Hunter turned and smiled sarcastically to the medical professional who was still in the room apparently unable to take the hint that the consultation was very much over.   
"Bob what's going on?"  
"There are killers hunting our families, targeting a child. Daisy has probably lost the best chance of freedom she was ever going to get and yet she did it without looking back and I can't even fucking walk! I signed up to protect, to help." Her voice trailed off in the way it only ever did when she was back.   
Hunter stood in front of the woman who was still sat on the edge of the medbay bed. He lifted her face so the blonde agent didn't have a chance to look away. So she had to listen.  
"You are helping, just because you can't personally hunt down every last one doesn't make you useless,"   
"I told Daisy I would help,"  
"Help with what?" Hunter asked suddenly not sure what his ex was on about, mentally backtracking to see what he had missed.  
Bobbi let out a small sigh.  
"I thought we weren't doing the whole lie to each other anymore you know after I got drugged and locked in a bathroom," The British man wasn't nearly as angry as his tone made out but he needed to keep her safe and the only way he could do that was if he knew all the facts.  
"She doesn't think Robbie is dead,"   
"You mean the man that must have been blown to bits in a bombing," He asked letting her voice calm down.  
"The watchdogs know too much, even if they are working with Hydra, there is stuff they shouldn't know. Gabe for one,"   
"Bob you can't be serious, I know Daisy needs hope right now but Robbie died. You saw the video of the explosion, of the state of Daisy when they found her."   
Bobbi didn't grace him with an answer at first, just looked down at her newly fitted split trying to work out if she could still get her tactical gear on with it. Not that she could ask the doctors that, she would be strapped to a hospital bed by the director before she could even finish her sentence.   
"She needs this," Bobbi's words barely a whisper. "I made a promise,"   
"And I need you," The agent replied sharply, not quite believing they were even having this discussion. There were many moments in his adult life that Hunter didn't understand his ex-wife and he had decided to put the entire conversation into that category and walk away. He couldn't get angry at her, not after everything but he didn't have to listen to his person wanting to risk it all, ignore doctors' advice, to go on a ghost hunt. 

* * *

"You got what I need Fitz?" Coulson asked, causing the engineer to look up from what appeared to be a disassembled rifle in front of him. The lab was busy enough but soon went quiet at the presence of the director. A man who very rarely ventured this deep into the science division of HQ. Fitz began starting to spend less time in the main base, letting himself return to the academy where the gossip was all about Agent Daisy Johnson and Quake. Both teachers and students knew of Fitzsimmons involvement with Coulson before he was the director. He heard the hushed conversations before he entered a room or made himself noticed but he was too senior for anyone to approach him with questions personally. Students joked with him but no one expected anything from the lecturer, which he appreciated because he wasn't sure what lie he could use to cover up the lies Coulson had told. 

Fitz looked at the man for a moment before pulling a padded envelope out of the desk draw. After everything his wife had told him about Daisy's recovery after Gabe he wasn't sure this was a good idea, in fact he put money on it being an awful Idea but he handed over the envelopes all the same.  
"Everything has been set up," the scientist confirmed.  
"Good and no one but you worked on it," The director confirmed.  
"It's a higher level than anyone in this lap," Fitz replied, "But yes I am the only person who has seen these. Against my better judgment I might add."   
"Your opinion is noted," Coulson replied using his director's voice. Both the men were very aware that they were not alone in the lab.   
"When will we know?" Fitz couldn't help but ask.  
"I'm heading underground now," The director was being vague on purpose.   
"And everyone else?"   
"Thank you for this," Coulson picked up the envelope and headed out the lab, instead of looking back at the machine in front of him, the scientist put his head in his hands wishing he could have just told Jemma. The poor man could already sense a domestic coming on. 

* * *

  
"I used to wonder what would happen if you found me," Daisy spoke when she heard the door to the fire escape open and close. She was sat in the stairwell looking up at the cold night.   
"Whether I could even face you after everything," She took a short sharp swig of the beer she had borrowed from Hunters stash. Daisy didn't need to look at the women to see who it was  
"I was so fucked up,"  
"Daisy, you were n-"  
"Did you know I saw your Mom?"  
"She never said,"  
"I think she thought I was you when she first answered the phone. Who else would call her phone from a burner at 2am,"   
May let herself smile.  
"It probably wasn't the biggest secret she took to her grave," The older woman admitted as she sat down next to the frail-looking inhuman.   
"She gave me 500 dollars cash drove me 2 hours and then I never saw her again,"  
"She must have liked you,"  
"I think she said like 10 words to me," 

  
Daisy wanted to lean on the woman's shoulder as she spoke because just for a moment it felt normal, the tension wasn't there.   
"5 more than she ever said to Phil," the agent replied with a short smile.  
"I tracked you for 6 months," May spoke looking in the same aimless direction as the inhuman.  
"Mack and Phil were the obvious hunters, they followed your crime patterns, monitored quake sightings and earthquake reports but I followed Daisy Johnson, thinking back to the person you were before we met you. The hacker in a van." May wouldn't admit how many license plates she had run under Mace radar, how many training exercises she had planned in cities she knew Daisy used to feel safe in, just hoping for a glimmer of her little girl. 

"You could have asked Yo-Yo," Daisy admitted with another sip of her beer. She wasn't sure what was changing, but as she sat in the stairwell the inhuman couldn't help but feel she truly didn't have anything to lose.   
"She knew where I was until she went undercover."  
"Kept that one quiet," Melinda made a mental note to bring that up next time she caught the women alone.  
"I turned up to Jemma's place to get a bullet removed once, I was the one that found them their first apartment,"   
May turned to look at the inhuman upon this admission.  
"Before Jamie," Daisy felt the need to add.   
"You could have come to me,"  
"I didn't want to be found, it wasn't personal,"  
"Yes, it was," May couldn't help but snap.  
They both knew May was right. The director and Agent May were a living reminder of the life Daisy could have had, of the family she didn't feel like she deserved. They were also a reminder of everything she had sacrificed, all she had lost and how broken she had become.   
"Coulson has 5 years of Quake sightings stored in a shoebox,"   
This time it was Daisy's turn to look at the women.  
"He used to volunteer to head up Watchdog raids hoping to find you, we both-" her voice trailed off. Some of her darkest nights since Bahrain took place after Daisy left. 

  
"You made a choice," she spoke up again, "We accepted that just wished I could have been there to keep you safe,"  
"If it wasn't for you, and Coulson, I would have died a long time ago." The inhuman caught her breath for a moment as she finished her bottle trying to picture her life without SHIELD, without the family that never let her go. "Probably from some form of an overdose in my van,"  
"I don't know if that's a compliment or not,"  
Daisy smiled at the older women, a short but sweet smile. It was enough to take the remaining tension from the stairwell.   
"I wouldn't do things differently" Daisy spoke again.  
"I know,"  
"If I did I wouldn't have Jamie," The women's voice quietened as if from embarrassment, all she had seen in the last few years made her wonder what sort of mother she really was, could she even be a mother without violence, without causing pain to those around her. She had never been a normal parent. She had never wanted to be, but she had always tried her best but looking around at the agents she used to call family her best didn't seem nearly as good enough. She couldn't help but feel jealous of Mack and yo-Yo who had successfully managed to give her daughter more structure in the months they had been hidden in the underground that the inhuman and her hell counterpart had managed to give in the 5 years previous. Daisy loved her daughter, everything she did was to keep herself, or at least that's the lie she had told herself. But the trouble with coming face to face without everything one had been avoiding, the lies become obvious. 

"You could have come back after Jamie" It wasn't a question but a statement from Agent May, Daisy knew that meant nothing she had said to Fitz had left his mouth.   
"I am sure Mace would have accepted me with open arms," Daisy's voice oozed with sarcasm but May was relieved to hear it. She didn't have the courage to tell her motherly figure she thought about it.   
"I think Coulson would have stood his ground,"  
"He would have lost his job to protect me,"  
"You made your choices we would have made ours,"  
Daisy couldn't help but find the older women comforting, her abruptness to the point made her feel safe.   
"We have made our choices,"  
"Why?"  
"Why what?"  
"Why protect me? Why risk everything for me?"   
"Daisy you-" May stopped herself, trying to think of someone she had already told the girl in the last few months.   
"Everyone needs protecting," The older woman couldn't help but let the what-ifs circle her brain, all the things that she missed out on, all the normal parent, grandparent, things she didn't get to do. All the times Daisy needed protection and she wasn't there.   
"I'm not a defenseless little girl anymore,"  
"Maybe not, but doesn't stop me-"  
She didn't need to say anything else. All May just wanted what every mother wants for her child to be the better version of her.   
"You will look after Jamie?" Daisy finished her beer and was now looking into the empty bottle.   
"I am always up for babysitting,"  
"May,"  
They both knew what the young inhuman was getting at, the pain intertwined with the question but fear in her voice. The fear that hadn't left since she had woken up alone, in a containment module.  
"She needs you," May replied,  
"She needs you," Daisy repeated the statement now actively ignoring eye contact, wishing she had brought more beer, or that she still smoked anything that would calm her down.  
“You're the best Mom anyone could ask for,” Daisy murmured but it was heard loud and clear.  
"You're her Mom,"  
"Am I?"   
"Daisy you have had more than one opportunity to leave, you could have quaked me down at the garage or left at the hotel bombing but you stayed,"  
Daisy thought about the women's statement, she hadn't even thought about running, the inhuman had thought about dying but not leaving. Finding Robbie was always going to be easier in a SHIELD issued uniform, that's what she had to keep telling herself.  
"You have made it clear you're not staying for us and you're certainly not sticking around for fun, so you're staying for Jamie,"   
The older woman could feel her voice start to shake in a way it only did when she was talking to her family. The subtle voice change that only happened when she was talking honestly, when she stopped being Agent and just for a moment became Melinda May.  
"She would be safer if I left," Daisy ignored the previous statement made by her parental figure.  
"Maybe, maybe not,"   
"Thanks,"   
"But you can't run forever, you can't push people away. I've tried. I even thought I had mastered it for a while,"  
"Then what happened?"  
"Coulson," 

May didn’t say anything else, she knew the last 24 hours had been a lot for the inhuman, in fact, the senior agent knew the last few months had been beyond tough for the young women. The older women couldn’t help but want to take all the girl's pain away, to open the door, and tell her she could leave to wish her well and safety then close the door but she knew it wasn’t that simple. Bad guy or not Daisy wasn’t ready to be alone. She just hoped that she had done enough, said enough to convince the inhuman she was safe and she was loved even if she didn't feel it. 

  
\----

Daisy kept herself to herself waiting for an armed guard to take her away. She looked pale and the bags under her eyes were noticeable but her daughter didn't care.  
As the days slowly passed she was starting to get used to this new level of reality; it wasn't really freedom. Far from it but it wasn't a jail cell either. She felt eyes on her but no one spoke to her.

  
The inhuman let herself smile as she sipped her cold coffee and watched her daughter color, she couldn't help but be proud of the small human she was raising, even if it was no longer them against the world. Her ankle monitor had been put back on and was now made out of the same unbreakable metal as her internet resistance band. Daisy felt like there was more left for everyone to say, but no one said anything to her.  
  
May would watch from a distance, avoiding approaching the Mom as she sat there. They hadn’t spoken since the stairwell and while they both had a lot to say, the senior agent couldn’t go back in time to change anything, no one could fix this. No one had a good plan for the inhuman, but everyone knew what it was like to lose someone you loved and to want revenge. Hunter had nearly got himself killed over getting vengeance for What Ward did to Bobbi, May wasn't any different. She knew that SHIELD or not they were all functioning on the same survival wavelength. It was less obvious when they got to flash around a badge and make it look official but they were all the same. 

"Hey, Yo-Yo" Daisy almost yelled when she saw the agent walk past the glass divider. Daisy had been avoiding the women since she got back but was relieved to see her still with a level 8 clearance.  
"Hi, good to see you up and about," The women continued to make small talk glancing between Jamie and the fellow inhuman.  
"I just wanted to say thank you," Daisy instinctively lowering her voice. "For the key card, the directions, not running to DC." She paused for a moment looking over at her daughter, "For everything," Daisy admitted. She wasn't sure whether the fellow inhuman had been avoiding her or just busy but it was nice to see her.   
"You would have done the same for me," Yo-Yo replied honestly believing in the statement. Daisy makes eye contact with the fellow inhuman for the first time all day.  
"And thanks for everything with Jamie, she literally worships the ground you walk on," Daisy feels her voice loosen up.  
Yo-Yo smiled before letting the conversation flow onto a more normal conversation. Coulson was about to enter but stopped himself, he knew that if the Daisy he remembered was ever going to return that he had to trust her even when he didn't understand her actions. Letting her have a normal unmonitored conversation was the first of many small steps. 

"Yo-Yo, module 4 is being brought in," He finally broke up the conversation, glancing down to his watch briefly.  
"That's me," the inhuman replied nodding her head before ducking out of the conversation.  
"Sir," Daisy nodded before turning.   
"Pop!" The little girl ran from the table towards the director letting him scoop her up and hold her just for a moment. Daisy hadn't really seen them interact, it would have been easier had she not been avoiding him like the plague.  
"Hey kiddo," He said sweetly before placing her on the floor and   
"We need to talk," Coulson said grabbing Daisy softly as she turned to walk back towards her Daughter who now had Bobbi next to her. Daisy hadn't even noticed the blonde agent enter.  
They both felt Daisy's body tense up as he touched her, he couldn't help but let go immediately.   
"Is this a your office or a Cell kind of conversation?" Daisy asked harshly through gritted teeth trying to keep herself calm. Trying to pretend the last few days hadn’t been good, hadn’t been exactly how she thought her life might have one day turned out.   
"My office," He replied, not raising his voice to bite back.  
Daisy nodded before turning back to her daughter and raising her voice so she could be heard from across the room. 

To Daisy's surprise, they walked straight past the underground office he had been spending a lot of time in and headed to the main part of HQ.  
"So I am actually going to see the door with your name on," Daisy couldn't help but look at her father figure as she spoke.   
"I've had nicer offices," He replied calmly. Neither one of them would admit it but it was nice to make small talk, for his not to be putting the inhuman in handcuffs or holding her by the belt loop. 

It still took Daisy by surprise how busy the main base was, everyone had somewhere to be yet there were agents standing in grounds talking, having a coffee and laughing. It almost looked like a regular workplace. She paid more attention to it on this walk, noticing where all the cameras were pointing, what color lanyards people were wearing, the different outfit choices. Making a mental note to ask what the different style of lap-coats meant when she saw Jemma next, if she saw Jemma again. Daisy expected people to look at her, to wonder why she was out unguarded, then she remembered she was a hero to outsiders, her work had saved countless lives, none of the strangers around her knew all she had lost. 

"Afternoon director," She heard a few people say as he walked back.  
"Still forget you are the big boss,"   
Coulson simply smiled. He wasn't feared in the same way Fury was and he didn't have the media and political face that Director Mace had. He was somewhere in between. He liked that. There were worse things to be, that's what he kept reminding himself. 

DIRECTOR PHILLIP J COULSON the door read like he was a principle.   
"Very impressive," Daisy said looking at the door briefly before he unlocked it.   
"I like to think I have earned it," He replied almost proudly.   
Daisy smiled a little before letting him open the door.   
He walked in first but she followed swiftly behind, making sure the door was shut behind her. 

Coulson pulled himself behind his desk. It was grander than Daisy had imagined but it was still very much his. Daisy lets her eyes wander the room, counting the exits, subtly looking up to the air vent in the ceiling and down to the wooden flooring that looked somewhat fancier than the concrete hallway they had come in from.   
Without saying anything else Daisy took her place opposite him, in the way they used to do when he needed to talk to her about something. Something that was SHIELD related rather than personal.

Coulson pulled out the envelope from his desk drawer and placed it on the desk. Before pulling out a SHIELD badge and ID card and putting it on the other side.  
Daisy looked up more confused than ever before he took a seat, gesturing her to do the same.

Daisy flicked open the black leather case of the SHIELD badge to find her name and photo inside. While it didn't have a level on it, it was still a sight she never thought she would see again. Compared to the tatty one she carried around in her shoebox for years this looked shiny, new and somehow more modern than the one she was given before. The logo looked somewhat different even though she knew it hadn't been changed. She looked up at the director; still unsure of what to say before he gestured to the brown padded envelope sitting across.   
Daisy picked it up and poured the content onto the desk. She couldn't hide her face when 2 American passports and an ID card slipped out.  
"Skye Jones," Daisy read the name out loud as she pulled the passport up for inspection. She knew it was fake because that was clearly her photo against a name that wasn't hers but it was a good one. She flicked open the second password.  
"Jamie May Jones," She read out loud pulling herself into a stand to get better lighting on the passport. Her daughter had never had a passport and something about seeing her daughter's face inside one took her back to a life that could have been.

"What is this Coulson?" Daisy looked up at him, he was still sitting in his chair watching his daughter interact with the objects hoping he had made the right choice.  
"You said something to me the other evening that got to me," He admitted slowly, Daisy looked down at the items again, this time picking up the SHIELD badge with her name on it.  
"You are not just an asset to me Daisy and you are not a prisoner here at SHIELD. I want you to stay but that's because I have finally got you back in my life," his words hit the ex-agent in a way she couldn't have ever imagined. She briefly thought back to what May had said to her. To all they had lost to keep her safe, to all the choices everyone had made to keep her alive.   
"All I have ever wanted to do is keep you safe. Agent or not," He continued to talk.   
"So if you want to leave," He continued, "You can, new identities, new life. No more SHIELD. No more Agent. No more Quake, you leave it all behind." He paused for a moment trying to work out what the girl was thinking. She wasn't looking at him but had now picked Jamie's passport up from the table. She inspected it closely, running her fingers over the glossy photo of her daughter.   
"All I have for you is love even when I don't show it." He felt the need to add.   
"So what I make my decision and you just go with it?" She looked at the man who will always be her father.  
He nodded.

Without saying anything she put the passport down on the table and picked up the SHIELD badge, she didn't say anything else. she didn't need to. Before the Director could say another word she closed his office door behind her. 

Daisy left his office standing silently for a second to gather her thoughts before trying to work out if she had made the right decision, or what decision she had even just made. As she looked down at the SHIELD badge in her hand she let out a sigh. She had just let Coulson turn her life upside down yet again.  
She walked to the main entrance of the base, it somehow felt different now she wasn't working with a stolen card to get there.   
She couldn't help but head towards the storage lockers, not even sure what her level-less ID would give her access to.  
She let herself breathe a quick sigh of relief when her photo appeared on the scanner to open the first set of doors.   
She wasn't even sure if Robbie's car would be in the same place but she just wanted to see it. 

She followed the same instructions Yo-Yo had given her last time, more surprised when the ID card continued to work, she couldn't actually believe DC had given it to her.   
She saw the car in a different place than last time. It was now not in a place where it could be driven out and she was slightly surprised when it was locked. She felt into her pocket to where she kept the key that she 'misplaced during the incident at the garage,'. Everyone knew she had it but no one asked twice.

As she sat into the car she closed her eyes, letting herself think back to all the memories she had it in. Not just Quake and Ghostrider but memories of Daisy Johnson and Robbie Reyes, 2 normal people. The times they had got to be the slightly embarrassing people at Gabe's school or watching Robbie fit a newborn car-seat in the back because under no circumstances did they need another car. Not that Daisy would have ever suggested they get rid of the fireproof machine but she was glad when they had purchased a second one. A less deathtrap feeling car.   
The biggest debate the couple always had taken place in the car. Their fights normally take place in more remote locations given there often inability to hold themselves together when angry. They were probably the only couple in existence that would drive to abandoned warehouses to discuss things they were scared might turn into an argument. It had become a running joke between the couple but still something that very much happened. 

She held the key in one hand and the closed SHIELD badge firmly in the other really wishing she had Robbie to talk to about it all. Wishing he was here to tell her that he was proud of her for finally stopping all the running. That maybe this was herself finally getting settled. Finally stopping. Letting herself breathe. Even now she wasn't sure. 

Robbie was never the kind of man that had big comforting speeches but he did always say something, and it wasn't always that she wanted to hear but it was always what she needed. It was always what kept her going.   
She felt the passenger side door open but refrained from opening her eyes, she figured the silence meant it was someone she knows rather than the poor security guard wondering if she was dead, from the smell of the perfume she lets herself settle back. 

"I can see why you like this car," the women's voice causes Daisy to zone out of her thinking. She doesn't open her eyes but hands the women her new SHIELD badge. May opens it in silence before smiling a small but very obvious smile. She wasn't expecting to see Daisy with a SHIELD badge given the option, May would have put Money on Daisy walking out, passports in hand taking the senior agents only grandchild with her. The fact that they were still here May would never take for granted again, she hadn't realized how much she wanted her Daisy and Jamie back in her life; until 6 months ago she didn't even know of Jamie's existence but now she was so glad that she did.   
  
Everyone had almost forgotten the side of May that Daisy brought out, while the senior agent had a material instinct for many of the women in her team, Simmons being the obvious example none like the bond she shared with Daisy. Nothing as strong, as protective as she got when Daisy was in danger. 

The pair sat in the car talking. Neither interested in the words that were said just filling the silence.   
Daisy forced words out of her mouth, saying something uninteresting, unpolitical, harmless only to be followed by the senior agents' equally harmless response. In any other world, or with any other person, Agent May wouldn't entertain this type of conversation but this wasn't some unknown rookie from the academy or someone that joined up after the media campaign by Agent Mace. This was Daisy. Her Daisy. 

May even forced herself to do a polite laugh, something the inhuman wasn't sure she had ever heard nor that she wanted to hear again.   
Neither of them let the conversation flow about the things that really mattered;   
Their hidden pain and unsaid stories lay on the tip of their tongues never spoken about. 

  
“I told Robbie I was pregnant in this car,” Daisy looked out the tinted window for a moment wishing the view wasn’t a disassembled plane “So much has happened in this thing,”  
“Do I want to know,” May smiled a little letting her daughter talk about the parts of her life the senior agent didn’t get to be a part of.  
“Get your head out of the gutter,” Daisy actually let herself laugh a little.   
“I had known for months,” Daisy continued to talk. “Didn’t want to tell him, we were…” She paused for a moment trying to think of the best parent appropriate way to describe her dysfunctional relationship with the father of her child and the man she grew to love.  
“It was complicated,” Daisy finished the sentence May knew what that meant.   
“It just worked,” Daisy felt the need to add, “Then we were driving back from somewhere,” Daisy continued to talk, her voice getting stuck at the idea of reliving the moment.  
“I was pretty sure I had seen Coulson when he had pulled in for gas,” May smiled knowing that it probably was Coulson.   
“It wasn’t like I could just walk into a hospital and get a scan, I mean I could have walked in but I definitely would have left in handcuffs,”   
“So we're driving and I am getting really freaked out over getting gas and I started crying like actually balling,” Daisy laughed back at the sight she must have been. Her look was darker then, her hair still black and often covered with a beanie. The metal chains had become a staple around her neck, at first they were for disguise and distraction purposes but after a while, they became her safety blanket.   
“He knew I was messed up but not crying in a car while on the way to take down a building messed up,” She felt the need to clarify causing May to smile once again.   
“He made some dumb joke, and I just told him. I wasn’t even sure -” Daisy's voice trailed off but May knew what she was going to say, “I hardly lived a child-friendly life,” she paused for a moment trying to imagine her life if she would have gone through with that appointment, “I thought he would be pissed or angry that I didn’t tell him or that I was pregnant at all but he just stopped for a second and then asked if that meant he had to baby proof the house,”   
Daisy turned to look at her Mom for a moment, “That was his first concern,” Daisy actually smiled thinking back to the grin that had appeared on the GhostRiders face. This look of pride and happiness over something Daisy had been scared about telling him.   
“We then had a more serious conversation afterward, only took down 3 trees and started one small fire,” Daisy’s voice was lightening up by the moment. The sparkle in her eye returned just for a split second so the senior agent decided not to say anything. 

  
“I think I would have liked him,” May said softly. The pair hadn’t really spoken about Robbie, not in the way most people would off considering his Daughter was in SHIELD protection and his brother had just died.   
“Oh no, you would have hated him,” Daisy says rolling her eyes, remembering how May first was around Lincoln. It wouldn’t have mattered who Daisy brought home, Melinda May would never approve.   
May rolls her eyes trying to work out if she could let the car go back to silence.

"It's good to have you back Agent Johnson," May said once the silence had kept back over the car, the senior agent looked down at the badge still in her hand and handed it back to the women in the driver's seat. Holding Daisy’s hands in her own as she did so.   
"It's good to be back," Daisy said quietly before her brain had time to think. Maybe it was good to be back. Maybe it was just the option that contained the best resources.


	13. Chapter 13

"Heard you’re sticking around?" Hunters voice broke her from the punching bag,  
Daisy looked at him, she wasn't surprised Coulson had told her old team, they all deserved to know. To know that she wasn't going to vanish, they didn't need to know that she was staying as much to find Robbie or to hunt the people responsible. All of which would be easier to do without being feared by the public and with SHIELD resources.  
"Yep," The inhuman knew she didn't sound very convincing.  
The Tracker had been removed from her ankle but she didn't feel free. As she had laid awake the previous evening the newly badged agent couldn’t help but be filled with regret and panic. 

In another life, if she wasn’t so angry, so feared by so many she would have taken the passports, taken them silently and without regret. Old her, her before Jamie, before she knew her family, that version of her would have got on a plane, any plane and found somewhere new. Somewhere in a different country where she could start again. But, even after all the odds were against her she couldn't leave Robbie, she couldn't leave her little patched up family again. She wanted to find somewhere to bury Gabe, she wanted his old friends to bury him, for him to have a place to rest. He deserved that even if she didn’t.  
  
"I know," The English man spoke again.  
"What?" Daisy snapped her head suddenly in his direction holding the punching bag still as she did so.  
"I know why you stayed,"  
"It was the best option," The woman tried to hold her tone as she glanced at her SHIELD badge on the window ledge.   
"I spoke to Bobbi,"  
Daisy gulped knowing exactly what he was getting at.   
"Nice to know you still get along, are we preparing for wedding number 3?"   
"Daisy,"  
"Hunter,"  
"I'm being serious,"  
"So am I,"   
"If you want to get yourself killed hunting down the watchdogs you should have just left. Don't robe Bob into your suicide mission for revenge!" He didn’t let his voice trail off, he stood his ground going through the various sentences he had prepared prior to entering the gym. He didn’t want it to come out angry at first, he wasn’t angry at her. He had been her, so focused on revenge that nothing else mattered. But the English agent also remembered where that got him. How much more pain it caused.   
“After everything everyone has done for me, don't you think maybe I just wanted to stop for 5 minutes, stay somewhere that I didn't have to move every few months. Where my Daughter could go to school and make friends. Where May and Coulson can see her, where I can close my eyes for longer than 10 minutes without holding a gun by my side! A place where my daughter sleeps safely. Not everything is a suicide mission Hunter and I didn't robe Bobbi into anything, your ex-wife is a grown-ass woman if she offered to help then that's on her!" Daisy could feel the lies oozing out her mouth but they didn't all feel like lies. She did feel safe in the underground, her daughter was safe when all the doors were closed and while her file was sealed. It wasn’t forever keeping her trapped down below was no more of a life than when they moved all the time, but for now, it was a good enough reason.  
  
Her daughter was the only public reason she picked up the badge, her daughter was the only reason she was still with SHIELD. She was alone now, it was just the 2 of them and she needed someone to keep her daughter safe while she hunted down the people that ruined her life. Even after everything, there was no better group of people than the half a dozen people that had her back even when she didn't want them to. 

"Now are you going to spar with me or did you just come to get into my personal space," Daisy couldn't help but threaten the agent.  
"Whatever you say," He slipped off his hoodie and looked at the girl, she had bruises which didn't look like they would ever heal. Her body in a state of disrepair but a poker face that meant you would never know.   
Not that that stopped him from giving it as soon as he got. Daisy had gotten stronger since being stuck in the underground, given that she had very little to do but punch things and work out, but Hunter had good old fashioned English bar fights on his side. Coulson watched them from his office in silence. Letting his eyes stare at the screen, wishing he could believe it would all last, hoping that just for a moment it could be exactly how he imagined. 

"I think she could teach you know," The director spoke out loud, sensing he was no longer alone in his office.   
"I think we should all just be glad she hasn't taken the place down,"   
"She's good," Coulson ignored the remarks and eyed the screen where Daisy and Hunter were fighting.   
"She's always been good, May trained her," The agent pointed out remembering all the times the inhuman had saved him, as well as all the times the inhuman had tried to kill him.   
"She was good before May taught her how to punch,"  
"Or fire a gun," Mack added, trying to lighten the mood softly before asking the question that couldn’t help but keep him and his wife up at night, "Do you think this is it then?"  
"Do I think she will take the badge and stay away from the watchdogs?" Coulson reworked the question he had been asked, knowing Mack was only asking what everyone had been thinking, "No,” The Director paused for a moment, “Do I think that they are safer here? Yes,"  
"And you get to see your granddaughter grow up,"   
The words put a smile on the director's face. Having a daughter was more than he ever thought possible but seeing Jamie was something else.   
"I don't doubt she will pack up and leave again," He admitted, "I am not the person that could convince her otherwise, she may be my family but -"  
"You did what you needed to do Sir," Mack cut off the director knowing exactly what he was feeling, what they were all feeling. Daisy had put them between a rock and a hard place but it didn't mean they handled her correctly. There was no part of the SHIELD academy for anything that Daisy had been through, never mind a section on what the friends and family should do.   
"Doesn't mean I wish she didn't hate me for it,"  
"She doesn't hate you,"  
Coulson looked at the agent as Mack continued to talk.   
"She is angry and scared. In the last year alone she has lost more than most do in a lifetime, 2 of the people that knew the truth and stayed anyway, one of them doesn't even have a body to bury." Mack was used to being the voice of reason, over the years he had mastered being the calming influence. Being the rational guy, but it didn't make the words he was saying any easier for him to say, or for his friends to hear.   
"That's what worries me," The director admitted. "That she doesn't have anything good to live for,"  
"If that were the case Sir she would have taken the passports and be long gone by now,"  
"Not if she's living for revenge," There was a pain in the director's voice, pure fear. Mack didn't have anything else to say, he had spoken to Daisy. He had promised her to keep her and her daughter safe. He wouldn't let the inhuman down again, not after it all. He had made a promise. 

* * *

She wasn't sure who else had seen the alert but the inhuman couldn’t help but delete it as soon as it appeared. Knowing instantly this was her battle. Coulson was off doing director things. Pretending that everything was fine, Daisy had been back on SHIELD payroll for barely 2 months, it wasn't as exciting as she remembered but the routine was something she could get used to. The inhuman still hadn't been trusted with a firearm but she didn't blame them, she didn't blame them for what they did to her because as her mind started to clear as the grief passed through her in waves she saw the monster they all saw. Even in the SHIELD issued uniform she saw Quake. She knew SHIELD issued badge or not she would never be Agent Johnson again. 

The inhuman closed down her laptop lid and headed towards the door, she knew how the system worked now. she had waited, looked to see where the cameras were pointing. What security monitored what. The agent knew when shift change was, what cameras were motion censored, and what ones were on all the time. She knew how the looping camera worked, where the weakness lay where the blind spots were. She had mastered hiding in the shadows long before SHIELD but that alongside her training meant she knew how not to be seen.

Bobbi was staring aimlessly at some SHIELD academy applicants Coulson had asked her to look over, it wasn't anywhere near her job description but she knew it was just to make her feel useful. It wasn't working but she appreciated the distraction all the same. As the months continued to pass her recovery wasn't going how she had hoped. The blonde agent always saw herself as indestructible, and until the hotel shooting, she had no reason to think otherwise. She had been shot more times than most people could dream off and always came out surviving, stronger, and more determined than before but this time was different, there was no quick fix. No months of rehab could change the decisions she made that lead her to being sat in the empty corner of head-office.

"You can still fly right?" A voice broke the agent from her aimless reading.   
"As in do I still have my license?" She looked up at the woman standing in front of her.   
The inhuman nodded  
"Then yes I can officially fly. Would I lose my job if I stepped foot in a Quinjet right now? 100%," Bobbi’s tone was serious enough but part of her was almost excited for the reason behind the question.  
Daisy handed over her SHIELD issued phone the alert still front and center.  
"Are you sure about this?" Bobbi asked her. Looking between the inhuman and the device in her hand.   
"It's all I've got,"  
"You're going to risk it all for one sighting? There are plenty of Inhumans with firepower on the list Dais,"  
"I'm going,"  
"Okay let me grab a jacket,"  
"Bob, you just said?"  
"I assume you didn't come down here just to tell me you were leaving so let me grab my jacket, badge and gun. Unless you want to fly the jet?"  
Daisy gulped and took a step away from the desk, she had come to ask for Bobbi's help but as she looked at one of her oldest friends, a woman who had already lost so much the inhuman couldn't help but regret asking.  
"It's only Canada, we will be there and back before they even notice we are missing," Bobbi should have been nervous but she wasn't, Daisy was the first person to treat her like an agent since the shooting. The first person that didn't notice the stick and splint, all the inhuman saw was Agent Bobbi Morse and she needed that SHIELD or not. 

The inhuman stood in silence as she watched the still injured agent slip on her black leather jacket and pull her gun from the drawer.   
She grabbed her crutch silently from the floor knowing that she should really still be using the set. 

They made their way to the smaller quinjets in silence, Daisy making sure to walk at Bobbi's pace. Several lower-level agents eyed up the pair as they walked. Daisy was in full tactical gear but Bobbi was just in casual wear, if there were whispers neither of them heard anything. They knew Fitzsimmons and May were at the academy. Yo-Yo had taken Jamie out of the base and Coulson was busy being the director. Neither of them knew exactly where Hunter or Mack had ventured off too but no one worried if the pair were not seen for days at a time. Mack would never be gone for longer than 24 hours with no notice but Hunter had been known to disappear for several days at a time, following a hunch or talking to contacts. It wasn't SHIELD approved methods but providing he didn't share his ways with any younger recruits Coulson just let the English man do his thing. As they unlocked the hatch doors to one of the jets Bobbi couldn't be more grateful for her ex-husband's erratic behavior.

"You good?" Bobbi asked as they sat in the cockpit heading towards the sighting. Bobbi didn't say anything as she clocked the plane and turned off the head office communications. She knew what she was risking but after everything they had put the inhuman through, after nearly losing it all. She   
"Yep," Both of them making the decision to ignore all they were leaving behind, all that could go wrong by just arriving in Canada with no plan. Daisy wouldn't stop looking, she knew that. They all knew that so Bobbi just hoped that this gave her some answers. Closure rather than more questions.   
"I know that this is it for me," Daisy looked over at the pilot briefly before staring back into the sky.  
"Daisy,"  
"DC is one for second chances but I think I have had more than most,"  
"None that you didn't deserve,"  
"Yeah we both know that's not true," There was a sadness intertwined with the humor from the inhuman, she knew she was doing exactly what she needed to do but it couldn't help but make her sad. She knew one thing, Robbie or not she wasn't going to let her daughter see her in a cell again.   
"You have to promise me that you will stand up for Jamie,"  
"Dais-"  
"No, let me finish!" The inhuman snapped in a way Bobbi hadn't heard before, it wasn't out of anger or spite but fear in the same tone as Hunter used to before serious missions.  
"I don't need you to be her Mom," The woman continued calming her voice down and trying to play nice while avoiding eye contact.  
"I need you to be Bobbi, the person that had my back," Daisy paused for a moment as if she had more to say but couldn't, "She is going to need that," Daisy's voice trailed off as she looked into the sky. It seemed almost peaceful to the inhuman.   
"You don't need to die for me to have her back,"  
"Bobbi you know that I would cross heaven and earth for my daughter,"  
"Then why are we even having this conversation,"  
"Because something tells me I won't be going to heaven," The inhuman says letting the sadness seep through her words. Bobbi couldn't help but glance over to the women who seemed almost at peace. It wasn't the normal cockpit conversation she was used to but she had learnt to take any conversation she could get with Daisy. She was never sure what was going on inside the head of the woman next to her, never mind since the death of Gabe. Agent Morse had always found people easy to read, it was something that made her good at her job but Daisy Johnson was starting to puzzle her. There was pain and sadness, anger there always but the rage and fear appeared to come in waves one minute the woman was at peace the next the inner turmoil was seeping out from every ounce of her being.

"Thank you," Daisy said quietly as they appeared back out of the clouds.   
Bobbi had parked the jet 1 mile from the fire sighting. Deciding that driving into the situation felt like a safer option. 

"Do we have a plan?"  
"We're SHIELD," Daisy looked at the agent. "Show up, flash badges ask questions find Robbie,"  
Bobbi nodded, she couldn't understand how calm the inhuman was suddenly, there wasn't rage or anger in her voice. She wasn’t scared of the unknown she was just ready.   
Daisy twisted her gauntlets on her wrists making sure they were locked in place. Another trip to the med center wouldn't help her cause.   
"You're staying on the jet," Daisy looked over to the senior agent next to her.   
Bobbi shook her head knowing that while she couldn't run she was a damn good shot.  
"I said I had your back,"   
"You’re injured,"  
"So are you," Bobbi snapped back as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and popped 2 tablets from her pocket. She wasn’t in pain anymore, not physical pain at least.

Daisy couldn't help but feel instantly guilty for bringing the agent, for even asking for the assistance of the blonde women. The women who always had her back without question, without judgment.   
"I'm driving," Daisy commanded. Bobbi didn't argue knowing that she definitely couldn't drive in her current situation.  
As they arrived on the scene it was still blocked off by police, the Canadian officers looked out of their depth.  
The two women looked at each other.  
“Somethings not right,” Daisy muttered as they got out of the car.  
“Robbie wouldn’t leave a building like this, never mind an apartment block,”   
Bobbi took in the information from the inhuman but didn't have a reply. She honestly wasn’t sure if they wanted Robbie to be the cause of the chaos in front of them. She knew that finding Robbie hiding out in Canada wouldn’t help Daisy keep control of her emotions.

  
"Got reports of a potential powered person," Bobbi flashed her badge briefly as she looked around the scene. The edges of the apartment block were scorched but they all noticed it. It wasn't how Robbie worked, it wasn't the kind of mess he left behind. The policeman nodded before saying anything, they weren't expecting SHIELD, they hadn't even called it in never mind to get an international agency involved.   
Daisy's eyes scanned the road before she saw it just for a second but it was long enough.  
She took off before she had time to process.  
"Agent Johnson!" she heard Bobbi yell but she didn't look back.   
As she ran down the side of the burnt building she didn't have time to look around. To judge safety.   
"What are you doing?" She stopped herself when she saw two teenagers, couldn't have been any older than 16 tagging the wall.  
GHOSTRIDER WAS HERE was written on the wall alongside a faded watchdog logo.   
"Who told you to write this?" Daisy's voice echoed to the boys who simply shrugged. She didn't have time to think, she knew her newly found freedom was already out of the window so without thinking she quaked one of the teenagers back against the wall, holding him just high enough that it would really hurt if she suddenly let go.   
"They paid us 100 bucks," the boy spluttered.   
"Was it this man?" Daisy pulled out her phone and found the picture of Robbie she had uploaded.  
The boy shook his head, whatever tough guy act he had was quickly fading but Daisy didn't care.   
"What did they look like?" she demanded again, twisting her wrist to tighten the pressure of her quake on the boy. Noticing the two teenagers eyeing each other up. She was holding back the tears in anger.   
So much for holding it together Bobbi couldn’t help but mutter to herself as she caught up with the inhuman.  
"Agent Johnson," A voice snapped the woman out of her questioning.   
"They saw him,"  
"Put the boys down,"  
Daisy looked over at Bobbi for a moment before dropping the lad not caring that she might cause harm.  
"I'm calling this," Bobbi said signally over to the local officers who were only a few paces behind. Daisy wasn't sure what they had seen, she didn't care. She knew she was out of a job.   
"Handcuff them, but don't take them. We need to ID who paid them," Bobbi spoke confidently. The local officer nodded almost relieved that his case appeared to no longer be their problem. The boys didn't say anything.  
"If you want to see the light of day again, you are going to sit and describe the man who paid you," Bobbi looked at the two teenagers. They hadn't done anything wrong really, nothing they could hold them on in SHIELD but fear tactics never hurt anyone.   
Before Bobbi could put her phone to her ear Daisy had run again, like she had just put the piece of a puzzle together, a puzzle no one else could see. 

"Agent Johnson!" Bobbi shouted again knowing it was falling on deaf ears.  
The blonde agent looked around trying to access the situation, it had been a long time since she had manned a crime scene and even then not alone. Taking control she could do but getting it wrong wasn’t something she could risk.

"Go after her," She turned to the local officers knowing that she was barely standing chasing after the agent was out of the question. Bobbi was now angry, not at Daisy for running or the trip to Canada but that she couldn't help. She couldn't run after the inhuman, she couldn't help. She had promised Daisy she wouldn't have to do any of it alone but Bobbi had let her. 

\---

May was just rounding up her lecture, she didn't enjoy doing them really but something about drilling combat skills into a group of cocky mostly ex-military personnel that think they are unbreakable was enjoyable. She knew they had all been scouted for their various talents and she didn’t doubt that but the arrogance wasn’t something she remembered having at the academy.   
Her heart stopped when she saw Bobbi's number. That was never for a social call, she knew that much.   
"May," She spoke firmly, putting the phone to her ear letting her eyes dart around the classroom.   
"May its Bobbi, I need you in Canada,"  
"Canada," May repeated back, still looking around the room. Before shouting, “Jackson Feet,” Her voice echoed around the room, her lecturers never involved many words but when they did they were scary.   
Bobbi removed the phone from her ear slightly to avoid being deafened by the senior agent.  
"Ghostrider sighting" Bobbi admitted once she was sure it was silent.   
"What's happened?"   
"Daisy’s vanished,"   
May looked around the room and glanced down at her watch before picking up her jacket in the same way Bobbi had done just a few hours earlier.  
"Send me your coordinates," May demanded before putting the phone down, she looked around the room one final time, most of which were not daring to look at her.   
“Class dismissed,” The older woman ordered, picking her gun off the desk and sliding it into her back before walking out the building. She didn’t have time to think, to process she had slipped into mission mode.

\---

"If it isn't Quake coming to save the day again," As soon as the inhuman walked into the building she knew it was a trap, yet another one with her name on. Not that she cared anymore. A trap meant they still thought she was valuable, otherwise they could have just rigged the building to explode. It meant she was needed for something, that her life wasn’t completely over.   
"Saving the day is kinda my thing now, I have the badge to prove it," She smirked back holding onto her anger, keeping in pent up for when she saw someone, honing in on everything Melinda May had taught her about control.  
"You guys do a lot of talking for people that want me dead," The inhuman continued to talk looking around the darkroom.   
"Oh no, not at all. I'm just the distraction," The voice had moved location in the room but Daisy still didn't have a fix, nothing to aim at and she wasn't sure aiming aimlessly while in a dark room was the best option. She didn’t fancy being responsible for another building collapse without good reason.  
Before she had time to process she felt the walls closing in, the inhuman turned agent wasn't sure what was going on but before she had time to raise her hand the darkness took over. 

* * *

"It's been 4 hours, us and Locals have swept every building, no sign of her," Bobbi said as the rest of her old team walked towards her into their SHIELD issued gear.  
"Do you think she could have just used this as an excuse to run?" Hunter couldn't help but ask.  
May shook her head but wasn't convinced.   
"She wanted to find Robbie, sure but leaving Jamie no, she wouldn't," Bobbi spoke confidently, actively avoiding thinking about the conversation her and the inhuman had had on the journey here. She wasn’t sure Daisy would run but she was sure Daisy was prepared to die.   
"Wouldn't she?" Mack asked sharply, looking at his friends.  
"No mack," Yo-Yo said looking around at the scene.   
"We are pulling all the video footage from the area now, hoping one of them has a clear shot of whoever caused the fire,"  
"Are we thinking Ghostrider?" Hunter asked, deciding instantly not to push his ex-wife.   
"It's too clean, does this look like the kind of mess they used to leave behind?" Bobbi remembering what Daisy had said when they first arrived.   
“2 Teenagers were paid to spray this,” Bobbi continued changing the subject, walking them over to the graffiti Daisy had stopped at. They all noticed that she was up and about, Hunter couldn’t help but watch every step she took but no one said anything.   
“This would set her off,” Mack stated. “Assume all the photos have been taken and cataloged?”  
“They are being sent to Fitzsimmons as we speak,”  
“And we have searched every building? Every basement and roof?”  
Bobbi nodded, she knew it was her fault they were even out here. No one would say anything, not while they couldn’t find her but she wouldn’t blame them if they were angry at her. She was angry at her.  
“There was no way in or out, the streets were closed off,”  
“You got in,” 

  
“Stopped by the police at the barrier,” Bobbi pointed to the SHIELD issued vehicle.   
“You need to get off your leg Bob,” Hunter spoke softly, noticing the women he loved starting to shake.  
“I’m fine Hunter,” She snapped louder than expected, causing everyone to turn back to her.  
He gritted his teeth but it hurt him to do so. They should have left, should have walked away after the hotel bombing, taken a clean break.  
“Is there any evidence that she was even here?” Mack asked looking at the artwork.  
Bobbi shook her head.  
“She doesn’t have a gun, icer or otherwise,”  
“Comforting,” Hunter couldn’t help but speak out loud, letting the words flow from his mouth before his brain had time to catch up. A glare from Bobbi was all she had in her.   
“She went that way,” May pointed down the alley that the girl had run down.  
“Police followed less than a minute after and she was nowhere to be found,”  
“This whole area is going through massive changes, there are warehouses and derelict apartments scattered all over the place,”   
The group continued to talk, going through the notes taken off the police departments. Looking at the sketch of the teenagers, there was no instant match on facial recognition but it was something. 

* * *

“What you did was reckless and irresponsible not to mention stupid”   
Bobbi knew it was coming; she had expected it from May or Hunter, she was prepared to argue with either of them but Coulson hurt in a different way. She knew she had broken so many rules and probably one or two international laws but that hadn’t stopped her before.   
“I know sir,”  
“You are not cleared for the field Agent Morse never mind piloting a jet and landing on a crime scene that isn’t even ours,”  
“With all due respect sir,”  
“No, you don’t get to play that card.” He paused for a moment, taking an audible breath “We don’t know where Daisy has gone, we don’t know whether she left by choice or was taken all because you made some reckless decisions,”   
“Maybe if you had treated her like a decent human being from the beginning rather than a caged animal you wouldn’t be questioning if you ran or was taken,” Bobbi didn’t have any more fight left, she wouldn’t admit it but her body was sore, her leg was shaking subtly but uncontrollably and she could feel her footing start to go.   
“She didn’t run sir,” She calmed her voice down and looked at the director. “If she had wanted to leave she could have just walked out of the front doors any time in the last 2 months and not looked back,”  
Bobbi did have a good point but the thought couldn't’ help but linger in his mind.   
"Whether she was here for the right reasons I can't tell you but she wouldn't just leave," The blonde agent broke the silence again, not raising her voice as she did so. Keeping her tone calm and rational, the same tone that had saved her many a time. Just enough bite to prove her point but not enough to sound aggressive.  
"Do you think she's been taken?" There was a flash of concern in the director's voice.   
"I do," She confirmed. They both knew if Daisy wanted to disappear she could have, the inhuman had done it for years mastered the art of blending into places she didn't belong, of a quick outfit, changed but there was no evidence of that. 

  
"Do you think she's dead?"  
"I think we would have heard, something tells me the watchdogs wouldn't let her die in peace,"  
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing,"  
"It means she alive,"  
Coulson nodded. He was angry, he was angry that the agent in front of him had defied direct orders, he was angry at the women he loved because he wasn’t her first phone call, he was angry at daisy for not telling him about the alerts she had set up but more than anything he was angry at himself. Angry that his relationship with Daisy was so broken he couldn’t even imagine that she hadn’t run.  
“You are dismissed Agent Morse, go to the med-bay,” He looked up from the photos scattering his desk.  
“Now Agent Morse,”  
She bowed her head before walking slowly out of the room. The blonde agent looked as unsteady on her feet as she felt but no one said anything, no one would dare. Injured or not the blonde woman was terrifying. 

\---

"What do you want with me?" Daisy was exhausted, she wasn't sure how long she had been gone, for moments it felt like minutes other times it felt like a lifetime. She knew she had been moved. The few surroundings in her eye line were not familiar, the smell was different. How she got there or where she was she didn't know but it wasn’t the warehouse in Canada anymore. Her body was sticky with her own blood, her gauntlets nowhere to be found, her tactical gear ripped off her, and her stomach containing new scars.   
"We need you to understand the pain you and your kind put us through," It wasn't a voice she recognized, not that that brought her any comfort she would do anything for a sound she recognized.   
"My kind," She could feel her voice beginning to shake as a small light came from the corner of the room and she braced herself for yet another conversation with a cattle prod. 

The inhuman let her mind wander to her happy place, remember the few conversations she had had with SHIELD agents about torture about getting out of your own head. Pretending you're somewhere else. This wasn’t the first time being held against her will but as she felt the volts rippling through her body it felt final. She wasn’t sure what they wanted off her, the inhuman didn’t know what cards she had left to play so instead she closed her eyes and forced her mind to wander. Making her brain pretend the sound of the cattle prod was Robbie’s phone, that they were dashing out of the door. Running late, she forced her mind to replay a simple memory over and over again. 

\---

"Sir," A voice stuttered from the doorway, "sorry to disturb you but something has appeared on the server," an analyst came into the office before the director could think again, if it was any other day he would have reminded the rookie the rules regarding knocking and waiting. That the director's office didn’t have an open-door policy.   
"Not now Agent," the Director snapped looking over to the small skinny man stood in his office door.  
"I really think you should see this sir," There was a small bead of sweat dripping down the man's forehead, Coulson was instantly unsure how long the rookie had been bracing himself to face him. The persistence of the junior agent took the director by surprise, by no means was he feared but people respected him, respected the processes in place.   
The man walked silently trying to hold his own before handing a device over to the director.  
"Who else knows about this," The director asked sharply.   
"Only you," There was still a nervous shake to the analyst's voice. “There is sound if you want to hear it,” The man took a large gulp as he finished speaking  
"Agent Hunter is in the gym, get him to gather the team. He will know the people," Coulson spoke sharply looking back down at the screen in his hands. “You send the feed to Fitzsimmons and get working on tracking the feed, you do not share you are now part of a very small but very deadly circle do I make myself clear.” The director looked up from the tablet for a second before he couldn’t help but stare at it again.   
The young man nodded silently before running out the door nervously clearly very aware of overstaying his welcome.   
Coulson knew they would all come, and he knew they would all know where. The only place that was truly safe to talk about Daisy for the person she really was rather than the SHIELD issued hero that he had painted to save her life. 

\---

"You have killed so many agent Johnson, you really think that can go unpunished,"   
The agent gritted her teeth as she felt the bolts rushing through her body.  
"Then kill me," she muttered trying to keep her eyes open. Trying to remember everything she had been through, all the training, all the times she needed to stay strong.   
"All in due time," There was anger in the man's voice. It was different from the others she had heard while being thrown around.   
"Who did I hurt?" She asked the man, as someone she didn't recognize injected her with what she was assuming was the thing inhibiting her powers, she couldn't feel the movements around her, the inhuman could no longer feel the world like she used to. Everything just burnt.   
The man stopped for a moment and even in the darkness Daisy recognized the expression on his face. It was pain, this was personal to him. The inhuman didn't doubt she was on several hit lists in both Quake and Agent Johnson form but that would have been a shootout, not a capture and harm. The watchdogs, hydra they wanted her dead but they didn’t need information from her.

"Liam Jones" He hissed out to her each word laced with anger. Daisy racked her exhausted brain to think of where she had heard the name. She didn't know all the people she had killed or hurt since she started taking down the watchdogs but she tried, tried to think of something to say. Something that made the man in front of her calm down but as she stayed silent it only made him angry, he wanted it to feel personal but the death of a watchdog was never personal to the inhuman no matter what issued uniform she was wearing.  
"You killed him at the hotel," He said through gritted teeth before letting his fist collide with the Inhumans face.   
“He threatened my family,” Daisy snapped sharply, knowing the name rang a bell he was the man in charge of the hotel bombing, the man who ruined Bobbi's career and scared Fitz, it was more than just threatening Jamie or admitting to taking Robbi that man ruined the lives of people that she had spent the last 5 years protecting, she had avoided them to keep them safe, to save everyone and he took all that away from the inhuman. He did hurt her family. Even as she was hiding the pain of the past few hours, as her mind was filling up with whatever selection of drugs they had put in her she knew the man from the hotel deserved to die and she would do it again in a heartbeat. She tried to keep her poker face on as he spoke. Holding it together, doing exactly what she needed to do.   
"An eye for an eye; There is the Quake he was always so angry at,"  
Daisy held her body tight as the stranger went at her again. It wasn't the first time she had been tortured but she knew that she was alone now. There wasn't going to be a Robbie to save her and she knew what it would have looked like to SHIELD, she didn't blame them.  
"Kill me then, I deserve it," the words came out of her mouth before she could process them, they weren't part of her normal script to save her life because as she lay there the inhuman wasn't sure what there was to save.   
"Grand final words," the man muttered again before Daisy saw it, the camera. 

\---

"What’s going on Director?" Mack's voice broke the silence of the underground comms room.  
The director stayed silent just pulling up the video footage onto the screen. As he looked between the large comms screen and the team he trusted more than anyone else in the world he could feel his heart, in the same way he could when they found her the last time. Hope was keeping it beating.  
"This was found by one of our computer techs 15 minutes ago," he spoke looking around the table. Bobbi was sitting but everyone else had stayed standing. Jamie was not long in bed but knew something was wrong, she was just getting used to having her Mom tuck her up at night and read to her, like they used to do before Daisy and Robbie would go out for their night job. The child hadn't kicked up too much of a fuss with Jemma as the scientist put her to bed and read to her but after everything they had been through it wasn't something Jemma enjoyed doing. She loved Jamie, they all did, but after everything she had put Daisy through it was the normal everyday life things that Daisy had missed most, putting her daughter to bed being one of them.  
Jemma glanced down at the small handheld monitor in her hand briefly just confirming the sleeping child was still there and in fact sleeping. The two live video feeds the scientist was looking between couldn't have been any further apart. 

"And this is definitely live, yeah?" Fitz asked as they all stared at the screen trying to think of something to say. All trying to break the silence, the disbelief.  
"We believe so, still unable to trace the source," Coulson replied looking down at one of the screens on the table, the tech was still working on it, since speaking to the junior analyst he had roped in several of the watchdog taskforce, the few high enough to know this wasn’t the time to ask questions. They were trying to pull everything they could from the feed but the people who set it up were smart enough to capture an inhuman in daylight, they all knew it was going to be easier. The one person Coulson knew would be able to trace it was the one person currently being held against her will. "Is there sound?"   
"Faded and unclear," Coulson replied, trying to read the emotions currently flying around the room.  
"Turn it up," Hunter practically ordered, his eyes not moving from the screen. He had noticed the faded movements of Daisy's lips as she was being injected. 

The director took a short sharp breath before turning it up. The words were muffled but they all heard her loud and clear.  
"Kill me then, I deserve it," 

May shut her eyes for a few moments reminding herself not to let it get personal; that they were all lucky Coulson hadn't given this to another group of people, agents that weren't so involved with the wellbeing of Agent Johnson, agents that could be impartial.   
"Where are you going?" He asked as she headed out of the room.  
"To find the sick son of a bitch that is doing this," May snapped. Not having any real leads was her specialty.   
"Melinda wait," Coulson couldn't believe he was nearing a jog down the corridors he was in charge of. Making a small mental note that his current suit not running material.  
"What?" The woman snapped back as he finally grabbed her arm to force her to turn.  
"What's the plan your just going to storm every building that has watchdog ties,"  
"If that's what it takes!"  
"We have to be smart about this,"  
"Smart about what Phil? She is alone because you played 'smart' when she was brought in, because we made her feel like this wasn’t her home." Melinda didn't need to say anything else but they both knew what she meant the hurt in her voice was not dissimilar to the tone their daughter had used on them since her rejoining of the organization.   
"I did what I had to do, you know that better than anyone,"  
"Do I?" She pulled away from the man she wanted not letting any tears fall, she didn't have time. She needed to find the woman that was prepared to die before she really was identifying the body.   
She was heading to the armory then to the watchdog unit, she would grab what she could then do what she did best, find and kill.   
"Melinda," The director shouted as she walked away knowing very well his shouting was being heard and ignored. 

* * *

"Didn't think I would find you in here," Melinda said quietly as she saw the couple aimlessly watching the live footage,   
"The director has his methods, I have mine," Bobbi remarked not taking her eyes off the screen. The blonde women hated to admit that this wasn’t the worst thing she had ever seen even if the only way she could watch the live feed was to pretend it wasn’t Daisy Johnson, it was just someone random, an unknown agent she was trying to save.   
Jemma looked up from the screen for a moment but stayed in silence, they had all heard the argument between the director and Senior Agent May, none of them dare bring it up, they knew better to get involved when Mom and Dad were fighting.  
"How is she?" May asked, looking to the live feed that was playing.  
"Still alive," Bobbi replied through gritted teeth looking over at the women before glancing at Fitz who was staring aimlessly at coding on one of the screens.  
"Any news?" May was anything but calm as she stared at the women on the screen.  
"They are very clever," Fitz replied angrily, "They routed this feed directly through a SHIELD server knowing we would find it, they want us to watch." He did his best to keep his voice strong and to not let it trail off at the idea of watching Daisy die in front of them.   
"If they weren't holding Daisy I would almost be impressed," Jemma was trying to keep the mood light but it was failing,  
May nodded holding in her anger, practicing everything she had taught the dying inhuman. They all silently flinched as a man they didn't recognize went at the inhuman with what looked like a taser. All glad they had muted it, not that it looked like Daisy was screaming or even crying out for help, her face flinching less than the people watching her.   
"We are running facial recognition on the man now, he has kept his face pretty well hidden but we got some bits to go off," Fitz said once the screen had calmed down.  
The senior agent nodded once again. They all waited in silence for several seconds watching the inhuman being injected with something that even through the dark grainy camera didn't look like pain medication. The loud beep of Fitz machine took them back to reality for a second.  
  
"One Paul Jones,"   
"Why does that sound familiar,"  
"His brother was one of the people from the hotel bombing," Bobbi spoke up knowing that the name wasn't going to be forgotten easily, his brother was the reason she couldn't walk.   
"Liam right?" Jemma asked remembering the body count from Bobbi and Daisy's handiwork.  
Fitz pulled up the man's ID and nodded.  
"Thanks," Melinda said, putting her gun back into the holster, Bobbi mentally noting that it didn't appear to be icer. 

\---

"Don't people normally torture other without a purpose," Daisy muttered holding herself together trying to focus on the room around her, looking for anything she could use to figure it out, her eyes were no longer focusing on the world around her but more fazing in and out of focus like a cheap camera.   
"I have a purpose," the man replied sharply briefly glancing over to the second man was still silent injecting something else into her,  
"I'm starting to feel like a pincushion," The inhuman spoke slowly to prevent her voice from shaking, trying and failing to keep her poker face. Whatever they were injecting her with was getting more and more painful with each shot. The punches to the face she could deal with, even the cattle prod was becoming bearable but the needle was killing her. She wasn't sure what was in it or what it was doing but she knew it wasn't good for her.   
"If we knew it would only take fire to draw you out we would have you months ago," It wasn't a voice she recognized but she felt the power oozing from the tone of his voice. The next thing the inhuman saw was a gun to her chest then nothing. 

* * *

  
"It's been 15 hours," Coulson stated looking up at Mack who was pacing the directors office.   
It had been 4 hours since the camera feed went dead with the last picture being of a hooded figure and a gun, it wasn’t comforting to anyone, they kept the white noise on in the background. All silently waiting for the video to reappear, while it wasn’t anyone’s first choice to watch it was proof she was alive. It was a glimmer of hope. Coulson had now set every scanner to search for Daisy's face, pulled every favour he could from every political ally he had. Agent Johnson's abduction was no longer a small team secret operation, it was SHIELD wide, they needed to find her. Everyone was exhausted, running of adrenaline and fake smiles while trying to put on a brave face for the daughter the inhuman left behind. 

\---

"Where Mom?" The girl asked as Jemma poured a bowl of cereal for the girl, she wasn't sure how she had been the one to do the morning routine with the child but the scientist was almost glad for the change of pace even if every ounce of the small girl reminded her of Daisy.  
"Your mom is away for work," Jemma plastered her awful fake smile on hoping it was good enough to convince the 5 year old even if she was the worst lying on the base.  
"Will she be home soon?" The girl asked innocently not knowing the question was breaking Jemma’s heart, taking a sip of the juice cup in front of her.  
"Hopefully," Jemma closed her eyes for a second to pull herself together, to try and make her lie more convincing.   
"Is she sick again?" The girl asked, looking up at the older woman who was now not holding herself together very well.  
"No baby your Mom is just fine," Jemma replied, forcing herself to get down to the girl's height and twisting the chair to face her. She couldn't help but hold the small hands within her just for a moment.   
"We are safe here until your Mom comes back okay?"   
The girl nodded, Jemma couldn't tell what the girl was thinking, the scientist wasn't sure she wanted to know. The girl was barely a child and had already been through more than most, Jemma wasn't sure how much more the girl could take.  
"And we are all here to look after you," Jemma pulled the girl into a hug whether she wanted one or not because she wanted one. She wanted mini Daisy to remind her that there was hope for her Daisy, for the women she had lost too many times. 

\---

"Any luck?" Bobbi asked the older women as she walked back into the underground. May shook her head,  
"I need a drink,"  
"That bad huh?"  
"We took out another cell, they had taken another big hit but no Daisy,"  
"Small steps," Bobbi couldn't help but hold it together poorly.  
"We are scaring them if nothing else," The blonde agent pointed out, trying to keep herself positive, trying to use all the training she could to hold them all together. She slid the older women a beer letting her take a large gulp in silence.  
"Any news from the director?"  
"Apparently it's now top priority," Bobbi couldn't help but notice how May still wouldn't speak to Phil, how impersonal the agent had become, Bobbi couldn't help but worry.  
"Good,"   
"How's Jamie?"  
"Asking for her Mom,"   
"What have we told her?"  
"Jemma has spent most of the day with her, so not much," Bobbi couldn't help but keep her voice in work mode, letting it match the senior agents.  
"Hunter is still at the scene trying to see if anyone saw anything,"  
"That's a waste of time," May snapped suddenly, "She is obviously not there anymore,"  
"We don't have much else, she ran than vanished," Bobbi couldn't hide the guilt in her voice as she said that.   
"Don't blame yourself," May looked over at the blonde women who looked exhausted, sleeping wasn't any of their top priorities but the agent was still recovering and needed more sleep than most.  
"Ditto," 

* * *

“He has a warehouse,” Fitz walked in holding a land deed.  
“A dead man has a warehouse?” Hunter asked, pulling the deed out of his friend's hand and scanning it.  
“This has got to be it,” Bobbi agreed with her ex-husband.   
“Who else knows about this?”   
“I saw May on my way over,'' Fitz replied innocently enough.  
Bobbi didn’t need to say anything, a quick glance between Mack and her ex-husband was more than either of them could say. There was no way May was still in the building. 

  
“I will grab Yo-Yo and meet you by the jet?” Mack asked looking over to Hunter who simply nodded.  
Bobbi started to stand but sat down just as quickly,  
“Bob,”  
“I know,” She said in barely a whisper.   
“I was going to say we need a pilot,” He brought a small smile to his face knowing he was breaking too many rules already and one more didn’t matter.  
“Brief Coulson after we are on the jet and prepare Jemma for a possible Daisy,”  
Fitz nodded as friends exited out the room using their anger to prepare them. Bobbi was in pain, it was written all over her face, both her physical therapy and pain management had gone out of the window but both the men knew she needed to go, she needed to help.

\---

“We are about 15 minutes behind May,”   
“In cavalry time that's like a lifetime,”  
“You know she doesn’t like it when you call her that,” A voice boomed behind them as they prepared for takeoff.  
“Director,” Bobbi spoke, the agent didn’t turn around as she was sat in the cockpit but she grimaced slightly at the sound of his voice. She couldn’t help but feel like a child being caught sneaking in after curfew.  
“Are you ready to go?” He asked closing the hangar doors behind him. Letting the team all take small and subtle sighs of relief.   
“Route planned just doing final checks,” Bobbi replied as Mack and Hunter looked between themselves, Yo-yo couldn’t help but try to blend into the background.  
  
“Let's do this,” The director didn’t say anything else, he had nothing else to say. Nothing wise or smart he just wanted to find Daisy. They didn’t have a plan, this wasn’t a SHIELD issued raid, they hadn’t gone through the right channels, followed the right protocols, they definitely didn’t have permission to land but as silence fell over the quinjet it didn’t matter. If Daisy wasn’t there then Coulson would spend the 48 hours after covering for everyone but for now, the silence between the old friends told them all it didn’t matter. Tactics didn’t matter, protocol didn’t matter they just needed to get her back. 

The fear of Daisy not being alive upon arrival was being spoken about in unspoken words, in the way that they had briefed Jemma, cornering off a part of the med-bay making sure that Jamie would be out of sight. An injured Daisy was something the small girl had witnessed more than anyone should but no child should have to see their mother's body. 

They flew in silences, briefly going over a plan of action, pretending that they weren't going to shoot first and ask questions later.  
As the 2nd quinjet parked up next to the cloaked one the agents couldn't help but look around in silence, this wasn't the first warehouse they had ventured into looking for Daisy over the years, only this time they were looking for a missing agent rather than a fugitive with a death wish. It didn't feel any different. 

They heard May's comms come into range and the director couldn't help but speak.   
"May you cannot do this on your own,"  
They knew she could hear them but she didn't grace her team with a response, her eyes were looking for her Daisy. To stop any more pain. The last 5 years playing over and over in her head as she walked carefully around the grounds looking for the best way in. All the leads to Daisy she didn't follow; all the times she stopped looking when she should have kept going, knowing how close she and Coulson had gotten before turning back. Knowing what she knew now she wasn't going to stop. 

"Don't die," Bobbi let Hunter kiss her as they finished suiting up, the blonde didn't protest at the idea of not leaving the jet, if the director wasn't stood behind them it might have played out differently but even after it all she knew what buttons not to push especially with an op that she couldn't help but feel like she caused.   
She couldn't help but wish there was more she could do.   
“They're going in Simmons” Bobbi briefed through the comms back to HQ where Jemma and Fitz had set up shop if they had had it their way they would have all clambered onto the quinjet but it was bigger than that, more complicated. So at the Head-office they stayed.  
“How is she Jem?” Bobbi asked knowing that Jamie was at the front of both of their minds, Bobbi’s eyes fixed on the video feed coming through Hunter’s body cam as the team entered the building. As Hunter stepped over a body in watchdog issued uniform they knew they were following Agent May.   
“She knows somethings up,” Jemma admitted looking over to the sleeping child on the sofa, “We are trying to play it down but the people she trusts are in single figures and...” Jemma's voice trailed off at the sound of gunshot playing through the shared comms. 


	14. Chapter 14

“Is everyone okay?” Bobbi’s voice was frantic through the comms, the silence worried her, she couldn’t see anything through Hunter’s camera which wasn’t calming her nerves.  
“We’ve got him,” Yo-Yo’s voice echoed through their comms but as May looked around she didn’t care. 

“I’ve got her,” Mays voice cracked through the comms as she tried to stay professional. Trying to stay on mission; trying to be the cavalry. The person she needed to be.  
"Let me die," The voice murmured as May lifted herself under Daisy holding the women close.   
"Never going to happen," May replied back. It was only seconds before Mack came running in. Following the sounds of gunfire and Fitzsimmons somewhat questionable directions from the inferred images they had pulled up.   
"We need to get her out of here," May's voice was calm but she was shaking, something Mack had never seen May do on a mission. She wasn't always professional but never did she show any emotion; except anger. 

"We have Daisy, we need a chamber here," May took a breath before speaking clearly down the comms, making sure to hold her own that it was heard and listened to.   
"There is no way we are going to get anything down here," Mack while talking through comms was looking at May holding the weak girl in front of him, it was a sight he never wanted to see.   
"Daisy stay with me," May spoke softly to the girl before letting Mack scoop the frail dying agent up from the floor and in silence the pair walked out. It was dark but with Daisy in their arms it wasn't nearly as creepy.   
The small trail of bodies didn’t seem nearly as many as shots the team had fired.

They had iced the man from the video, much to Agent May's horror, she was starting to agree with Daisy some people just don't need to be iced. There wouldn't be a trial for this, no 30 years to life would ever make what he had done to the inhuman okay.

They flew the quinjets back in silence. Yo-Yo flying the one May arrived in, they were glad there were no casualties on their side. They knew that Daisy would never forgive herself if anyone else had died for her and that wasn’t something anyone would want to put on the inhuman. They weren’t sure if she was stable or not as they loaded her into the med chamber on the 2nd quinjet. This wasn’t the first they had seen a nearly dead Daisy inside a med-pod but it didn’t make it comforting. May silently slipped a spare pair of gauntlets on the girl, not sure how much internal wrist damage the inhuman would have given herself without even realising it. Once they were safely in the air the director ordered a field team to further examine the warehouse and surrounding land. They needed to know everything they could about what happened, he wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again, to anyone. 

* * *

  
"Hey nice to have you back with us,"  
Daisy looked around at the bright lights and wires around her, she couldn't help but react, flinching herself away while trying to pull out the carefully placed IV.   
"Daisy calm down," May couldn't help but hold the girl down trying not to think about how much pain the inhuman was in, her body battered and her mind fried. May tried to hold her own as she placed her hand on a cattle prod mark and sudden pain flashed through her daughters eyes.  
"Daisy you're safe," May looked at the girl before looking up at the girl's heart rate watching it spike and show no signs of slowing down.  
"Daisy," May could feel the women starting to shake under her.  
"Simmons!" Was the next set of words out of the senior agents mouth. It was powerful and loud in the silence of a med room it was heard from down the corridor.  
Jemma didn't say anything as she ran in, she looked between May and her best friend.  
"We need to sedate her!" Simmons spoke fast before injecting a clear liquid into the women's IV. Looking up at the heart rate monitor as it started to slow down the room was brought back to silence. The whole interaction took less than a minute but the pair could relive it frame by frame.   
"Do you think we need to move her to a containment cell?" Jemma's voice was calm as she looked at the now steady heart rate before turning to face the older women. Knowing the answer to her question before it had even finished leaving her lips.  
"She's not going back into one of those -" Her sentence remained unfinished when the door to the room went again.   
"What's going on?" Mack's voice echoed in the room.  
"We felt the base starting to shake so we thought she might be" Fitz's voice trailed off as he noticed the inhuman was still very much unconscious on the table.  
"We had to sedate her," Jemma did her best to keep rational. To be the doctor they all needed right now.  
"She woke up?" Mack asked, looking at the inhuman before up to May for conformation.  
"Only for a moment,"  
"How is she?"  
"Her vitals are stable, she will recover and it's just going to take time. You know she doesn't die easy," Jemma wasn't trying to be funny, she was stating facts. Daisy had beaten death more times than it was considered amusing.   
"That used to be comforting,"  
May pulled herself into a sad smile  
"How Coulson?"   
"Preparing to interview the guy," Fitz replied without enough thought, causing Mack to stare at him with eyes that firmly told the engineer he had said too much. Fitz's eyes widened as he remembered the very specific don't tell May she's got enough on her plate instructions he was given. He knew the damage had already been done when May stood up and left the medbay without saying another word and before any had a chance to stop her. 

"Hunter this needs to be clean and on book," Coulson was talking to the British agent as they prepared to talk to the man they had kept alive from the warehouse.  
"Got it boss," Hunter wasn't convincing but Coulson ignored all the signs. They looked through the one way glass into the room where the man was sitting, he looked exhausted but hadn't yet said anything.   
"I think it might be too late to stick to the book," Hunter muttered as he watched May walk into the interrogation room, grabbing the man by the SHIELD issued jumpsuit and letting her fist collide with his face.  
"Who told her?" Coulson asked the English man who simply shrugged without even pretending to hide the smug smile on his face. He knew May would give the man in the interrogation nothing less than he deserved. The fact the man was breathing was more than Hunter thought he deserved.  
  
"Fitz'' Coulson muttered through gritted teeth as he went to pull the women he loved off a man who definitely didn't deserve to still be breathing. If he wasn't the director, if this wasn't bigger than just his pride he would have delayed running in but he knew the man was critical in the larger watchdog take out.

"Agent May" Coulson shouted as he pulled the room door open and watched her fist hit the man again.  
"He deserves it, he's the one that should be in the med bay not her," The words dripped from her mouth in anger but she didn't stop. She wasn't sure stopping was in her power at that moment. Then she felt Coulson's hand on her shoulder, reminding the women of all she had. He held her tightly but professionally as he pulled the smaller women off the now bleeding man. 

\---

"What were you thinking?"  
"You were the one who didn't even tell me he was awake and ready to be questioned?"  
"You're hardly known to interrogate," Coulson wanted to hold the woman he loved, hold her and tell her that Daisy would be okay, that they got the son of bitch that did it but they were both in mission mode.  
"That's not the point!"  
"Half the people on this base haven't heard you utter a single word, you're not known to do this," Phil wasn't sure where the line was. When he had to go from being the man Melinda loved to the director making the tough calls. He wanted to yell back at the women in front of him. Yell that it was his daughter too, Daisy was his everything from the moment they found her in the van but he couldn't bring himself to. 

* * *

"Hey Jamie," Jemma's voice was soft but shaking. She wasn't sure how she had become the one to do this but with a gulp she caught the girls attention.  
"It's about my Mom isn't it," there was a softness to the young child's voice, a tone that had been constant since Jemma had first met the girl all those months previous. Since then the girl in front of her had seen more loss than anyone could have dreamed of but her tone was still the same.  
"Is she dead?" The girls' questions continued. The scientist tried not to be taken back at the abruptness of the girl's first thought, instantly wishing she wasn't having this conversation. She looked over to Yo-Yo who had been sat with the girl most the morning. Daisy was stable and breathing, no reason she wouldn't be making a full recovery and the information they had found with the agent would make a solid dent in the case against the watchdogs but Jemma knew the child wouldn't care or understand that - the girl just wanted to know if she had to prepare for another funeral. 1 too many for anyone.  
"No babygirl," Jemma replied keeping her voice soft.  
"So your Mom was hurt,"  
"Like before?"  
Jemma took another silent gulp glancing over to yo-yo only for a second.  
"Yes exactly like before,"  
"So she still sleeping?"   
Jemma nodded, holding the tears back from her face, closing her eyes for a moment longer than she should have. Trying to hold herself together.  
"Can I see her?" Jamie asked, looking between the two silent women.  
"She's always better when I see her," There was a fleetingness to the child's voice.  
"I have a hug banked up," The girl finally admitted quietly causing Jemma to open her eyes and simply pull the child in.  
"She's asleep though," Jemma said, deciding then that rules didn't matter.

Jemma knew better than most that she was never going to understand the thoughts that went on inside the inhuman womens head, she wasn't going to pretend to understand any of the things that Daisy had been through either but she was going to be the friend that she never got to be. She was always going to be there for Daisy and whether Daisy would admit it or not everything she did she did for Jamie. 

\---

“Mom,” The girl's voice echoed in the silent room. Daisy was still out of a med chamber and they hadn’t yet moved her to a containment module but they all knew the order was coming.   
“She's asleep remember,” Yo-Yo replied, softening her voice. Glancing at the wires attached to her friend. She glanced down to the gauntlets attached to the inhuman knowing they wouldn’t do much to protect the outside word from a quake.  
“Hey,” Bobbi spoke softly aiming herself towards the child in the room. The blonde agent was sitting in the chair May had placed next to the bed mainly to stop the bed and Daisy from being moved in the absence of the senior agent but also because she blamed herself, there was guilt in her eyes everyone noticed it. She had flown the inhuman to her death and while no one would outright blame the injured agent it had been a fleeting thought in all their brains. 

The girl stretched her arms out as if to be picked up by the blonde women. Without thinking too much she scooped the child into her lap. The silence was stuffy and thick in the room; even the monitors seemed to be drowned out by the unspoken words between the women.  
“Be careful,” Bobbi rested her chin on top of the girls head just for a moment. Letting the warmth and hopefulness of the girl keep her together   
“I’m going to find Mack,” Yo-yo announced softly, she needed a coffee and to be angry neither of which she had been able to do while watching the girl.

“She looks so peaceful,” The girl whispered, they all noticed the voice shake but decided not to mention it.   
“Your Moms a hero, you know that,” Bobbi spoke before anyone else could before anyone could say anything bad about the women, Bobbi knew she had made a promise to the inuman lay in front of her. She needed to be the Bobbi Daisy trusted. The Agent that always had the inhumans back even when she wasn’t sure why, and especially when the inhuman thought she could cope alone.

  
The teary eyed girl looked up and the women for a moment.  
“Like a superhero?”  
“Exactly like a superhero,” 

\---

"Your hand?" Jemma couldn't help but note when May walked back into the room.  
May shook and flexed her wrist a little.  
"You should see the other guy,"  
"Oh I want to," Bobbi looked over to the senior agent and nodded her head, a silent thank you for doing what she was no longer able to.   
"How is she?" May looked over to the inhuman on the bed before glancing at the girl sitting on Bobbi's lap, her eyes closed against the agent's chest.  
"All fine," Jemma replied,  
"Gma," The small girl broke the conversation before Jemma could give any further information on Aget Johnson.  
"Hi there sweet thing, were you napping?" May let her voice soften in the way it only did for Daisy and now Jamie.  
"Did you know my Mums a superhero," The girl replied excitedly   
"I did," May smiled looking around the room to the people that had become her family. 

* * *

"Hey," her voice croaked but the room didn't move.   
Colson couldn't hide the smile from his face.  
"Daisy," There was relief in his voice as he spoke. "You're safe,"  
"I'm alive," It sounded more like a question than a statement but the director didn't have time to overthink it.  
"Your alive,"  
"Jamie?" There was the same questioning tone in her voice.  
"May has just taken Jamie to bed,"  
"May?"   
"Everyone's fine Daisy," Coulson placed his hand over hers and held it, ignoring the slight cold of her gauntlet against his sweaty palm. As she closed her eyes again, there was no sudden jump in her heart rate and he couldn't feel a quake. He was taking that as a win.

"Is that voice’s I hear?" Jemma spoke softly causing Daisy to open her eyes again,  
"Can I have a drink please?"   
"Water coming right up," Coulson sensed it was his que to leave,  
"Vodka," Daisy replied with a soft smirk. The playfulness back in her voice instantly calming the room.   
"Don't push it," He placed his hand on her leg and squeezed softly as he left. 

"How are you feeling?"  
"Hungover,"   
Jemma smiled and looked briefly at the women's vitals.  
"Really can't master this whole actually dying this huh,"  
"Fortunately for the rest us near death appears to be your thing,"  
"Lucky me,"  
Silence crept over the room but Jemma didn't want to leave, so sat herself cross legged at the end of the bed, where there definitely wasn't enough room but the inhuman didn't say anything.  
"How's Bobbi?" Daisy asked.  
"Pissed that you can now outrun her but she's good, we are all good." Jemma confirmed. Daisy forced herself to smile.  
"I'm sorry, I just thought-." The inhuman didn't need to finish her sentence for the woman sat at the end of her bed to understand.  
"Love makes us all do questionable things," was all the comfort that Daisy needed. She knew that Jemma and Fitz knew crazy love better than most. They had literally travelled to a different planet for each other.   
"Just next time don't do it alone,"

The pair continued the meaningless small talk for a few more minutes until the director returned with a bottle of water and May.  
"Don't ever do something that stupid again," May said before forcing the girl into a tight slightly painful hug. They all knew it would have hurt the inhuman but she didn't dare complain or even grimace.  
"Understood,"

No one mentioned the last time she woke up, the fear in her eyes or the broken equipment. They just took in the agent in front of them. Daisy didn't tell them the pain she felt when she closed her eyes and they didn't ask. They all knew, they all knew the road she had ahead of her but they had also been by her side before. 

* * *

"You need to see her Bob," Mack broke the agent from her afternoon activity of throwing a knife at the wall.  
"I will,"  
"Agent Morse,"   
"Did you just Agent Morse me?"  
"You are being irrational I didn't have another choice!"  
"You are aware I am currently holding a knife, a knife I am throwing at things,"  
"I've seen you do Mumma-Mia on the karaoke you don't scare me anymore,"   
Bobbi finally broke a smile.  
"Does she want to see me?"  
"She asked,"

The blonde agent wasn't sure what was stopping her, she had seen the inhuman in worse condition, in worse shape and Daisy had seen her the same way but something stopped her entering the room now the woman was awake. Her internal monolog wondering if Daisy would even want to see her, after everything. 

\---

"I hear you have been showing my daughter how to throw blades?" Daisy's voice entered her ears as soon as she swung the med-bay doors open.  
"They are dummy knives," Bobbi replied letting herself sit on the chair near the door. Standing still wasn't something she was meant to be doing it.   
"I don't blame you, the quicker she starts to scare Hunter the more entertaining for the rest of us," Daisy smiled back at the women instantly relieved to see that Bobbi was alive and well.  
"I'm sorry," Daisy spoke softly once quiet had taken over.  
"Your sorry? I'm sorry. I flew the quinjet, I couldn't chase after you,"  
"You flew because I asked you too. This isn't your fault Bob,"  
"It's not yours either,"

* * *

  
"I'm going to be fine," Daisy squeezed the senior agents hand upon day 3 of being awake, the inhuman gene did wonders for her healing even if it didn't bring people the comfort it used to.  
"I am going to put a tracker chip in you as soon as you are up and about," May looked at her daughter squeezing her hand back.  
"Oh I'm surprised you didn't do it while I was under," 

The senior agent smiled and Daisy let herself smile back. It wasn't the home she had wanted when she left all those years ago but as she let herself recover again... as she let people in again the inhuman couldn't help but feel grateful for the hand she had received in the end. She was surprised to find her still level-less ID badge in her bunk when she made it out of the med bay and another set of her tactical gear. Her recovery continued in unspoken conversations and long bouts of silence but it happened until one day she was walking around SHIELD HQ and she no longer felt like an imposter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually hate this ending


End file.
